Japanese Native Reacts to "History of Japan"

You expressed some relief that the creator of the video took a more neutral stance. This is how most Americans feel. We harbor (unintentional joke) no ill will toward Japan for WWII. It's not like how a lot of Koreans and Chinese loathe the Japanese. A lot of Americans actually idolize Japan. Same for Germany. We don't hold a grudge against them either. We may joke about things that happened in WWII, but it's not from a place of disdain. We joke about 9/11, too. The only countries we dislike are the ones actively trying to attack us in the modern day. Even then, many Americans still idolize those countries for who knows what reason...

he also did the history of the world and both videos are great to get a general idea of history but with how short and fast paced they are it's difficult to go into too much detail. the humor helps to have the important parts stay in your mind. it's a lot to take in for 10min thank you for the video :)

I remember someone saying that this would be the perfect video to show during the first and last lectures of Japanese history course. On first viewing you grasp absolutely nothing and just laugh at the fast paced jokes, on the last viewing you can then enjoy actually understanding things since the video is basically just a fast forwarded summary of the course contents. =D

Rice kingdoms. Ironically, that's the literal translation of the Japanese word for the US. 米国。

Btw something to point out. The firebomb raids by the United States took more lives (for obvious reasons) than the two nukes did. In western media and education we aren't ever really taught how devastating those firebomb raids were. I do believe Graveyard of Fireflies has displayed this atrocity but essentially the US rained fire and napalm down on cities in Tokyo, but not just randomly, strategically like bombing a circle around the city so the heat comes to the center to ensure 100% destruction, no where to go, all infrastructure and human life gone. The nukes were horrible, but the firebomb raids on cities, with all those civilians, objectively took more human life than the nukes did. Considering how much nuclear bombs have advanced it's worth always remembering nukes are unacceptable but it really overshadows how aggressive and regardless for human life the US was during it's campaigns in Imperialist Japan.

So, it seemed like you rolled your eyes a bit and sighed when he was talking about the 2 big 💣. It almost seemed like you wanted to say something, but didn't. I'm interested in hearing what you have to say about that.

Since I heard "Hokkaido is Japan's Texas" I always wanted to visit.

This is the first video I've scene of yours and I just have to say thank-you for reacting and I greatly enjoyed it! 😃

Also they lacked to mention the friendship between Poland and Japan, as they were allies before the WW2 as they had a common enemy being the USSR. The war begun as Germany invaded Poland, which Japan was not really happy with as Poland was still an ally. Later, the Polish government in exile was forced by the Allies to declare war on Japan to get supported by the Allies. As a friend being on the other side of the fence, Japan just replied "no" to that war declaration.

Japan has a fascinating history. It has a proud development in Asia. I am an american asian with roots in Chinese and find the Japanese being successful in our modern world because they are hard working, devoting to what they do, adapting to modern standards and willing to integrate to whatever standards helpful for their survival and lifestyle. A chinese should know that the Japanese don't like China things after the Mongol conquers. The Japanese were in fact disappointed in the overall Chinese for their weakness and willingness to bow down to the Mongols and this mentality lasts even today. For Chinese the Japanese have preserved and were frozen in mentality back in 600 AD China, which isn't bad for the mannerisms, language and grammars, arts, etc except for the militaristic mentalities, and many things that were bad associated in the Sui/Tang periods. Sui/Tang well past China and the aggressive mentalities from those ancient days better be dropped and it seem so after world war 2. That's why people all over asia are respecting the Japanese once again. I hope it lasts.

good video another video suggestion - can you share with us how is ww2 taught in japan and how much it changed since the end of war? maybe your family/friends have different experiences? i would be super interested in that bonus points if you share opinions aboout the nukes, since so many american lefties dont like US now, its hot topic again so maybe mentioning it in title/thumbnail could boost the video thank you!

Great video! I was able to keep up and get an idea of it all even though he was moving a tab bit fast. Helpful view from a native this Is definitely a thing I don't see you guys do often still, so it's definitely appreciated. As for some of the subjects in the video while many countries are covered in blood dispute the bad it is still apart of the countrie's history. We should learn about the bad as much as the good. It is not to idolize, but to learn. No history should be forgotten good, bad, and sad. This goes for Pearl Harbor and hiroshima/Nagasaki on the topic of WW2. Don't want to go to into on those, but just to say that it's ok and what not. We can heal. I want to heal. As for the Rising Sun flag while yes it was used in a time of colonization and the atrocities committed around Asian and the Oceania that does not mean it has to been used or be ONLY seen in such a manner. For me I acknowledge the bad past of the flag, but I do not idolize that part of the flag's history. That is why in the US in particular you have people who appreciate the flag. I still enjoy the flag and you should too is what I am saying. The only time I have an issue is when people want to stupidly idolize that goes for anything not just flags. As for Japan post WW2 which is my favorite time period right after the Sengoku Jidai period while yes Japan did become outrageously rich, modernize, and engineer/re-engineer some of the best technology know to man even to date was it worth the loss and suffering pre-WW2? That is not for me to decide, but just something to think about. Or do you believe the sacrifice was necessary? Devastation vs. Growth? Necessity vs. Choice? All in all I just want to get along. I hope we can all heal and learn from our past war-time history. Peaceful conflict resolution is what we need to do now and going forward. I am also in full support of Gensuikyo 原水爆禁止日本協議会.

興味深い動画をありがとうございました。鎖国に関して補足させて下さい。ポルトガル船の来航を禁止したことにより鎖国は完成しましたが、オランダ船と中国船のみが貿易が可能でした。ちなみに朝鮮と琉球王国も交渉がありました。

3:17 "are you guys keeping up" - lol, no. I had to watch it several times, and I'm sure that still I haven't caught everything.

There's a nice restaurant by me with that flag in US. I love the old tradition. Very nice family. We all respect it🙏

I agree with not using the rising sun flag but I found out they still use it for the japanese navy which is kind of questionable by the government

I would like to hear the story from a Japanese perspective.

You have to be from Hokkaido if you said your town wasn't shown, I made this comment before I watched the whole video and I was correct. I'm Scottish and Hokkaido reminds me a lot like Scotland in the UK

For something about the "Sun Rising flag with 16 bands" I am surprised to know that this flag is not used anymore. I also have the uneasy feeling that certain country with "golden stars" (stars a plural) will be treated the same way in a not-far future. Thanks for pointing this out. There are still many people not able to forgive Japanese government and military did in those period. Also there's no right for the current people now to have this feeling because they haven't been dealt with the Japanese military and in fact these people were collaborators with the unwelcomed Japanese military in that particular period. And unfortunately these people don't see the Janpaese government is a reflection of themselves and they risk putting a whole country in danger just like the Japanese did over those unfortunate days. Can we ever learn?

I have loved Japanese culture for 58 years. Keep on being Japanese please. Loved my visit in 1981.