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© KYODOJapan's MSDF ship to fly rising sun flag at naval drill in S Korea
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sakurasuki
The sun always rise across Asia, Japan try to show that again.
dbsaiya
Asinine. It's not even the national flag. If the host country is offended, offer the courtesy to respect their wishes.
FizzBit
Good. The word "imperial" is no longer part of the Japanese Military. Grow up SK.
Bob
People need to understand it’s the ensign of the JMSDF. Controversy aside Japan should be proud of its self defense forces and support them especially now.
Bob
Laguna
The "rising sun" flag and the naval ensign are close but not identical. Their histories can be read here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rising_Sun_Flag
Samit Basu
@Bob
Just as how modern Germany Navy has no right to fly the Nazi Swastika Flag, JMSDF of today has no right to fly the Rising Sun Flag. Why is this not so clear?
@Laguna
Try that reasoning to German authorities and see how many days you can stay out of prison. Wave any similar facsimiles of Nazi swastika flags, including Neo Nazi version and SS version, and you go to prison in Germany.
Agent_Neo
What is clear is that this issue, which is not even a problem in itself, is nothing more than South Korea's hatred of Japan. The rising sun flag is definitely a military flag
First of all, the main premise is that South Korea started to attach the rising sun flag on January 25, 2011, in the AFC Asian Cup 2011 semi-final Japan vs South Korea, Ki Sung-yeon scored one goal with a penalty shootout in the 23rd minute of the first half. When he took the lead, he performed a "monkey imitation" performance, and as an excuse, he made the excuse that he reflexively did it because he saw the rising sun flag.
Subsequent investigations did not confirm the rising sun flag during the match.
After that, Koreans started to say that it is the same as Hakenkreuz in Germany, and it continues to this day.
In other words, until 2011, the Japanese Self-Defense Forces normally flew the Rising Sun flag when entering South Korean ports, and joint exercises with the South Korean Navy did not cause any particular problems.
Stop hoisting things that weren't a problem before, suddenly you don't like them? Under international law, armed forces must fly a military flag, and they can only do so when they surrender or commit acts of piracy. The former South Korean government, which demanded it, is ridiculed by the military of each country for lacking common sense.
This isn't even a problem. Lower the flag in consideration of Korean national sentiment?
Do you think it's reasonable to demand that international law be twisted for Koreans?
Samit Basu
@Agent_Neo
Used by the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy to commit countless list of war crimes across Asia and kill 30 million innocent people.
diagonalslip
or even: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2023-05-26/roger-waters-berlin-police-incitement-nazi-ss-costume-germany
Fighto!
Last time I checked, this flag being flown on Japans vessels is the current and legitimate Japanese Naval ensign.
Much ado about nothing.
Samit Basu
@Fighto!
And that's exactly what's wrong with Japan today.
In other countries, they have the ability to reconcile with past wrongs and make it right, like German ban on all variants of Nazi Swastika flags and the US military ban on the Confederate flag. Heck, NASCAR banned the confederate flag of all places(NASCAR's primary market is Deep South, aka former confederate states) and you can't even order a Confederate flag on Amazon and Walmart.com.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53450820
https://www.espn.com/racing/nascar/story/_/id/29293767/nascar-bans-confederate-flags-racetracks
Fredrik
Why not just change the flag? Problem solved!
Samit Basu
@Fredrik
Actually the correct solution is to hoist Japan's national flag, Hinomaru.
Fighto!
The flag in contention - the "rising sun flag" - in its many variations, has been around longer than the period in which Japan was a totalitarian, fascist regime. You don't just wipe your history and your symbols because of one shameful period.
OssanAmerica
Which included many Koreans serving willingly. 148 convicted as War Criminals. 21,000 Koreans are enshrined at Yasukuni Shrine.
https://zh-cn.facebook.com/WWIIPhilippines/photos/a-brutal-korean-lt-gen-hong-sa-ikin-mar-1944-he-was-transferred-to-the-14th-area/2339906756075246/
fish10
So just to piss everyone else off? How necessary is this to inflate their Japanese egos? The rising sun flag should have been banned at the end of WWII just as the Nazi one was.
Bobby
The problem is that a certain number of people have been deceived by the propaganda spread by Koreans to harass Japanese since 2011.
Even decent Koreans say that it is only a few psychotic Koreans who dislike the rising sun flag.
Please read the following URL for your reference.
https://www.ilbe.com/view/11321045603
Agent_Neo
In China alone, 38 million people died in the Sino-Japanese war, so if you want to make the casualties look bigger, why not make at least 100 million casualties in Asia and the Allied Forces? If you can trust the numbers from China and South Korea, go for it.
The Self-Defense Forces flag is a Japanese military flag that has been used since the establishment of the Self-Defense Forces and has been used without problems.
Since 2011, South Korea is the only country in the world that has made complaints, but I have no intention of dealing with them.
If you do that, you have to change everything every time Korea makes a complaint.
In the first place, there are no complaints from the Allied Forces that fought against Japan, the colonized Southeast Asian countries, Taiwan, and those countries.
Only South Korea, which was annexed by Japan, modernized, and made little sacrifices, is complaining.
And even in South Korea, the rising sun flag is not prohibited by law.
It is certainly not prohibited by international law.
Japan doesn't care about the feelings of some people in South Korea.
opheliajadefeldt
From what I have learned and read, the Rising Sun flag is widely used in Japan today for celebrations. And it was used by the Japanese military during WW2 but that stopped in 1945.....but it was re-initiated in 1954. So today there are two flags the 2nd being the Hinomaru. As a young EU person with a keen history, I have always recognised both flags as Japanese. In my country it is illegal to show any Nazi symbolism anywhere, and so it should be.....ps. I really hate other countries letting their citizens use these hate symbols.
voiceofokinawa
There seems a confusion between Japan’s national flag and rising sun flag. The former is a red circle in the white background whereas the latter is a red sun with an emanating ray system.
The latter is often called a naval flag because it’s usually used by the Navy on a ship.
So, I wonder which flag the Koreans are taking issue with.
wallace
The one used by the Maritime Self-Defense Force.
voiceofokinawa
Wallace,
All I wanted to say was: If you dislike someone, you will end up hating everything he stands for.
There was a debate in Japan as to the legitimacy of using the pre-war Imperial Japan's Sun Flag as a national flag. Even the national anthem, Kimiga Yo " (Your Majesty's Rein), was singled out for criticism.
So, if the Koreans wanted to be out and out, they should come down to these fundamental problems.
But, then, it can be said that the Koreans are interfering with another nation's internal affairs.