Dictatorship and Brainwashing by Miu Toyota

About 70 years ago in Japan, and I think also in many countries, people- it means ordinary people- did not have rights for politics, education and so on. We Japanese had a formal law establishing universal suffrage to show that Japan was an advanced nation but actually it did not have any power after the government had decided to intervene in the Second World War. The government forced students to leave school, and men were conscripted and women worked at factories a whole day. We just had one political party which was supported by the emperor and ordinary people could not know every decision what they decided.  However Japanese people had educated for emperor worship since they started to go to school, so no Japanese people thought that what the government and emperor did at that time was doubtful. It is said that all Japanese people got down on their hands and knees and apologized on the road to the emperor for a defeat when the emperor made a concession speech.

This story was told with undiminished admiration at that time, but today I feel outrage at this story. We must have our birthright.  Nobody can look under someone and nobody can be looked under by someone.  But all Japanese people believed that the emperor was a living god at that time and the god could decide their destiny. I do not know what Japanese people at that time would answer if I asked their opinion. They might answer that they really love and want to work for the emperor and they want to die for him. Many Japanese people at that time might support to join the Second World War. I cannot say that the Japanese government at that time forced all Japanese people to go to war. And also I cannot say that blind devotion or blind faith is always bad. It is happened anywhere and anytime, but people who believe something blindly always seem to be happy. However I can say that nobody can violate human rights. We have rights to join our politics, learn about whatever we want, say our opinions and so on.

Today Japanese government wants to hide some information and change the Constitution of Japan. I am not exactly sure that why they want to do but I hope that tragedy will be never happened.