The Japanese did not march off to war shouting “Long Live Militarism and Aggression!” They declared that they were fighting for peace and security, coexistence and co-prosperity, a bright future for their nation and all of Asia. All lies, declared the victorious Allies, the kasutori-gentsia, the political left in general. A more ordinary response, however, was to say: wartime rhetoric reflected decent, even noble ideals, but we were disastrously deceived and misled by our leaders in our pursuit of them. From this perspective, it became possible to imagine that the ideals for which so many had
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