It's from a very hip Japanese Goth-fashion brand and is just new in. And just in time, because Hitler is my big topic at the moment.
I am studying Politics in Tokyo, and quite naturally the lessons often touch upon Germany, because most classical political theories and a whole deal of political history plainly come from or have taken place in Europe. Of course, the Holocaust has been brought up a couple of times as well. Very particularly in one seminar, where the main point is to discuss things with one another (not a very strong trait in Japanese universities, though), I have encountered opinions that extremely upset me.
First of all, some young Japanese males find Hitler good. I use "good", but it is probably "cool", or "admirable". I will not even get into why they like him, because for me, it does not matter.
He can be held responsible for the Holocaust, which should suffice as argument as to why it is wrong to find Hitler "good".
Fact also is, opposed to what half of the world thinks, he was not even as genius as half-baked knowledge might make one think he was. He clearly lacked political competence and a sense of reality, which in turn was covered up by his great rhetorics and a good amount of demagogy, which then again gave the impression that he was a great leader (which he was not, because he even drove his own people to the bitter end through a war which at one point they were clear to lose). He was not even the lone power within the regime.
However, this is probably something only someone who really grappled with the subject knows, and that is what most Germans do (and I hope they continue to do in the best way possible). After 2nd World War, Germany has undergone a warysome process of guiltiness and atonement. They had to accept the fact that all were to some extent guilty and responsible, and until today, Germans all around the world (me included) have to face little trials for what happened. But we take it, and accept it, because it is a part of German history, and Germany knows it had done wrong. The German school system therefore teaches very clearly and realistic about what had happened in Nazi-Deutschland, and does not leave the horrid parts out, so that we understand. You can blame Germany for many things, but not for not grappling appropriately with the topic.
I was not even upset because Japanese might like Hitler, because I know some just do not know better. I was upset because Germany had to stand a little trial again, but held by people of a nation that has its own history of war and warcrimes not yet sorted out sufficiently. It hurt to hear the accusals, the arguments clearly warped the facts and the resulting responsibilities completely. Taking the blame from someone who was just as much guilty as oneself is hard to swallow. To be clear, the Japanese today are as little guilty for what happened as the Germans today are. But I wish these kinds of things would be handled differently here, that would make it much easier for me. Intellectually, as well as emotionally. However, I guess the person I really have to talk to is my lecturer. So I will do.
I thank the T-shirt above to make this topic at least a little fashion-related. Just to make myself clear, I think wearing Che Guevara or Fidel Castro T-shirts without the appropriate political and historical knowledge is equally wrong. We should make statements, but we also should know what we are talking about.
41 Comments:
How can people even think he's cool or admirable? I don't understand.
Thanks for this insightful post. I am so interested to hear about how the topic is taught very openly and honestly in German schools. The comment you make about not blaming German's for not grappling appropriately with the topic is very eloquent. I've never heard Nazism spoken about by a German person before (not that I have so many opportunities to speak to German people!) Which is why I so appreciate reading this.
True words. Two weeks ago while browsing in the internet I came across with a Japanese Band, probably rock, which is called "Mein Kampf". It was irrating because their band label also show the so called "Hitlerkreuz". There seem to be a certain interest to Hitler, the "3.Reich" but not in the same way as we, in Germany, are confrontated with.
Back in my teenage years as an exchange student in the USA I was asked by some teens in my age how living would be for me in Germany, considering the Narzism. Well, honestly I was never confronted as "victim" by the extreme right political side. First I needed to explain that this regime is definitely over in Germany etc. I was surprised that some people are still thinking of Germany as Nazi-Deutschland. It made me sad, especially if you are in touch with Hitler in so many courses since the 8th or 9th grade. You can't escape this topic, and of course you shouldn't.
The next sentence might be a unpopular statement but honestly, I think Germany "suffered", was blamed enough for the past. Yes, it was horrible. Yes, you can't bring back all the people. Yes, it is not excusable. But it was not only Hitler and Germany who killed Jews in that incredible dehumanizing way without any real reason. Other countries also sent their local Jews to Hitler in order to kill them. But does anybody blame Franco,Mussolini or Japan? Not really. This is something which always have upseted me. I don't deny the fact that Hitler and Germany were the source, the beginning of the cruel which happened in the 2nd World War but we can't close our eyes of the fact that there were many other countries who followed him and acted in the same way. Probably not as organised as Germany with the "KZs" but that doesn't mean it was less cruelful.
About Japan: Honestly, I wonder how Japanese handle with their history during the 2nd World War with their past war crimes in Asia? Are they confrontated with this topic in same way as German students?
i can't believe some people actually think hitler was good ...
I'm working on a dissertation on the 2nd World War and I really can't understand why anyone, from any point of view, can think of Hitler as being 'cool'. It shows a serious lack of understanding or either some very bad taste. In any case I think this really is disturbing.
K, here's to better mutual understanding!
Fruchtzwerg, actually, that was the point why I got mightily upset about the subject in the very first place. Because I think that Japan has not handled the issue appropriately, nor sufficiently, yet. Here I have to completely agree with you, that Germany has been the only nation that stood up and took the full blame and does so until today, while the other nations' guilt has wrongfully sunken into obscurity. That is actually why I wrote the post to begin with, although the point came rather short: I do NOT want to be accused for things in a way that suggests that the Japanese had been less guilty and cruel than the Germans. Because they were, and they are for not addressing the issue. I do not expect the Japanese today to take the blame of their forefathers, or their government for blurring what happened and what they did, but I demand a clearer consciousness of those deeds and their responsibilities.
I've been reading your blog for quite sometime now and enjoy it very much. This post makes me inclined to post b/c it infuriates me how that person could find Hitler cool.
I find it fascinating that schools in Germany would lecture about the truth when I wonder if Japan does the same for they did to the Chinese in WWII as well. I've always found it appalling that they never once apologized and ignore the fact that what they did was just as bad as what the Nazis did.
Anyway, I digress b/c this has always been something that has bothered me since I was a child.
Blogger gini said...
this has been such an interesting post to read - it is really good to hear somebody writing about the sides of japanese culture that are rarely reported on or written about in the west. don't get me wrong, i am really interested in japan and plan to go there for my honeymoon next year, but when i told my dad this he just froze and said "japan, why?"
i think that the reason for this is that my dad lived in malaysia when it was occupied by the japanese in ww2 and was required to work in a japanese factory from the age of 7 - he saw numerous atrocities committed against locals in a way that indicated a total lack of empathy at the time. we have so many japanese family friends now, but the one thing that has always amazed my dad is their total lack of knowledge of any atrocities committed by the japanese in ww2.
so, what i am trying to say is, that you, as a german, living in japan are in a very interesting and important position and i think it is really good that you are willing to talk about the history you have been taught - i think it can make a big difference!
why people actually like to wear a shirt with a man on it who is to blame for the death of over six millions is inapprehesible to me...
and why on earth are you allowed to walk aroud with a swastika on your shirt in japan?
i am taking a holocaust literature course this term and seeing this shirt makes me shake with anger.
i think out of all the fashion blogs i read i find yours the most appealing because you talk about other things other than fashion. thank you for keeping up with your posts and i look forward to more interesting posts in the future.
I've been following your blog for quite a long time. Thank you for interesting and smart reading :) This post just obliges me to write smth on the topic.. I am from Russia and this is really interesting how differently the history ща WW2 can be taught. I believe that no nation can be blamed for the actions of a group of people who made such political desicions as to start war...
Just recently our government established a committe which will be responsible for the "right" teaching of history in our schools. Hope that they have some common sense and will not try to conceal some not so pleasant moments in our history..
thank you once more!
Erzhena
I completely agree that if you were to wear a t-shirt with said political figure then you should know who they were and what they stood for. Otherwise it just appears ignorant. I'm definitely surprised to hear that some Japanese regard him in such a way....
Hey! I just wanted to say that I've been reading your blog for a while and I love it, but also that I've been studying abroad in Tokyo too! I'm at Sophia University and I'm also studying politics. I have to say, I wish I was in your class, since 'discussion' in my security studies course mainly consists of my professor telling me 'you can't talk about that now.'
Its very true that Japan has had problems teaching their students the 'truth' of what happened in WWII. Some history textbooks have little or no mention of comfort women, prisoners of war, and the Rape of Nanking. Its also really interesting to hear a your perspective on how Hitler is handled in Germany, because even in America people still throw that accusation around at Germans.
Anyway, your blog is great, and I hope you put up some tokyo shopping tips soon! (I havent really bought anything, sadly- sticker shock and tiny japanese sizes have made it hard for me to buy much lol!) Ganbatte!
i never understood the thing in japan about hitler and germany in generell.but i also think they just dont know what to think.i heard they are just europe fanatics.maybe thats the reason they like to wear hitler and stuff.strange though
but honestly... if this wasnt hitler on the shirt i would reaaly like it
well, well, that's a very strange t-shirt. hitler with...tie-dyed pink?
i feel like south koreans and japanese both seem to have a strange admiration for hitler, which is really strange since there's apparently very little knowledge of his actual beliefs, and both countries' histories changed dramatically due to world war II.
someone i knew once compared to the liking for hitler in east asia to the admiration that some westerners have for napoleon, except i think the hitler thing is a bit stranger since he's a more recent historical figure and there's a plethora of horrific evidence of his deeds.
i'm american, and as others have said, i feel like americans' first image of germany is usually of nazi germany. that is also a bit strange, and i wish there was more of a middle ground.
I'm from Poland and in my country the
"t-shirt thing" would never happen. Our law is very strict when it comes to these matters (nazism). WWII was very painful time in our history. Polish kids are taught what happened then, what Hitler did.Unfortunately, many people all over the world try undermine those facts.Some even say that all those horrible things never happened. So thank you Kitten for writing about it! It's important to remember.
I am curious, do these Japanese people who would wear these shirts and that band you mention know what he did and how offensive it is? I have found that especially alot of young Japanese people are really naive and don't have a good sense of world history. Their admiration for Hitler might be somewhat comparable to the Che Guevara shirts I see people wear here in the US. They think he was cool and think that wearing a shirt with his face on it makes them look cool but they rarely know who he is. Sometimes they don't even know his name but just like his picture. I don't think they understand that he wasn't exactly the most admirable man.
I wish I could write in Japanese so I could send them a letter of disgust.
Very interesting post and I completely agree with all your statements concerning Japan and its own guilt and role in history. The Hitler shirt horrifies me a lot. That's much more shocking than those pictures of japanese wearing swatika shirts just for the matter of coolness, similar to teenagers in Germany wearing Che Guevara and Viva la revolution shirts or spraying anarchistic symbols on walls without minding any historical or political background.
I also think that Germany is the only country that deals with this subject in an appropriate way. Otherwise we wouldn't find ourselves in situations like Fruchtzwerg mentioned and protect our nation from ancient prejudices. I'm not declaring a nonexistence of right-wing politics or people admiring Nazi-Deutschland and its ideas but in my eyes Germany now is a nation of mulitculturalism and tolerance. Maybe a 'forced' status as the result of incidents before 1945.
Wie die Japaner mit solchen Themen (ihren eigenen) umgehen, darüber konnte ich bei einer Hausarbeit (übers Nanjing-Massaker) nur staunen. Die Meinungen, die aus Japan zu diesem Thema heute noch in Büchern veröffentlicht und anscheinend von großen politischen Kreisen befürwortet werden (es hat nie ein Massaker gegeben/die Chinesen haben alles selbst inszeniert/sie waren selbst schuld/sie haben es verdient) hätten einen Deutschen hier schon längst hinter schwedische Gardinen gebracht..
Obwohl die chinesische Seite auch nicht immer einen 100% objektiven Eindruck macht *g*
Thanks to all! It is interesting to hear about the perception of the issue from different view points, but I am glad that we in general agree. And really, it should not be any other way.
Here in France, we have a history of collaboration with the nazis through the Vichy regime led the Maréchal Pétain and it took 50 years for the french government to officialy apologize for having sent about 140000 people to death camps with the active help of french police (including around 75000 jews or gypsys, only 2300 survived).
And even if collaboration was admitted in history books, it took decades and decades for France to admit that it was much more a follower of the nazi regime than a resisting country, even if a few heroic acts also existed.
Since the 80's much has been done in the country, thanks to the work of historians, journalists, lawyers, and finally writers and filmmakers who contributed to show the darker sides of history, but for some survivors, it was already too late.
I have often the feeling that japanese considers themselves as victims of the war and they are now mainly pacifists (and it's true the people suffered so much from bombings and nuclear weapons) but their government should be ashamed not to face terrible things like the massacres in China, the 731-unit etc. Hiroshima doesn't give the right to close your eyes, as much as Dresden bombings will never compensate for the holocaust.
No wonder a lot of japanese have such a shitty relationship with the chinese and tend to have a kind of superiority complex. I'm convinced many japanese are ashamed too but their voice seems so silent compared to the traditionalists visiting Yasukuni-Temple...
And I can't understand how dressing like an SS may be considered like a "cosplay"... just plain stupid.
sehr schön wie du alles sympathisierst hast ! ich mein was haben sich die leute denn gedacht , dass sie sowas auf ein tshirt druckn?
wenn du hier in dtl so rumlaufen würdest würden die deutschen ab sofort die japaner hassen wenn nicht sogar verabscheuen ...
und wer bitte findet hitler noch gut?Ö.ö bestimmt nur die die nicht viel darüber bescheid wissen !
I know what youre talking about. I grew up in germany and studied Hitler quite a bit and it offends me to know that some think of him as good enough to print on t shirts. Germany until now struggles with being prejudged as a racist nation, just because of him, when in reality that is just so not the case.
I agree, people need to get informed before buying shirt carrying the picture of a man who singlehandedly tried to wipe out an entire religion and countless men, women and children.
www.trustme-itsparadise.blogspot.com
It's really horrible that people actually think Hitler was cool!
Great post.
this is a very good post!
Well, I guess this just proves that Harry Truman--who was a Democrat, by the way--ordering two atom bombs dropped on civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki didn't solve everything. I wasn't alive then, but as an American, I feel guilty about it, no matter what platitudes I have been told about how it supposedly "shortened the war and saved lives."
As one of our generals from another war said, "War is Hell." (NOT auf Deutsch!)
I immediately thought of Ché Guevara when I saw that t-shirt. I think it's like that, I know many guys who wore the "viva la revolution" t-shirts in highschool, I doubt that even half of them knew anything about the guy.
I can understand it must be frustrating for you to discuss Nazi Germany in Japan, as the Japanese can be (are?) hypocrits about their own war past. I visited the museum in Hiroshima last year. It emphasized the suffering of war very much, but focussed on the suffering of the Japanese citizens and hardly mentioned the war crimes of the Japanese that preceded the bombs (more like a note at the end of "oh yeah, we treated the Chinese and Korenas bad too". They did have the monument for Korean prisoners of war that died, but not much more as far as I remember.)
2 years ago I visited the concentration camp in Dachau, and it gave me the shivers. I thought it was a really good (and 'hard') museum and admireable that it was kept free by the government (and probably listed as a mandatory school trip for German kids). Germany does handle its past very well. There was this statue in Dachau that summed it up: "Den toten zur ehr, den lebenden zur mahnung". If kids visited one of these camps, I doubt they'd be buying Hitler t-shirts.
Ah, but now that I've been thinking about it, I do remember my Japanese guide at the time telling me about some Japanese wanting to change their flag and national anthem. As the flag and anthem were the symbols they fought under during the war, they wanted to change these to distance themselves from the actions that their emperor took back then. He told us there had been some problems with highschool teachers refusing to sign the anthem in school anymore.
Maybe some interesting discussion material for your course?
When you wrote about how schools in Germany are upfront about the atrocities during Hitler's time, it reminded me that Japanese schools are the complete opposite.
We've had Japanese exchange students come to the Philippines who are completely unaware of what their government did in World War II (rape Filipinas, stick bayonets through babies just because the country was an American ally). They'd come out weeping after school trips to Corregidor, this war relic where Filipinos hid underground to escape from the Japanese.
I just had to share.
Thank you for a brilliantly written and heartfelt, courageously honest post. I especially like the way you brought it and ended up on topic: fashion, and specifically Hitler tee shirts in Japan!
I come from a JAP (Jewish American Princess) childhood on Long Island, and will never forget, aged 19, finding myself with a friend in a giant tent somewhere in Munich, staying up all night talking with other German students about the war, and the Holocaust, and their guilt. I just remember this one guy saying 'It wasn't us, we didn't choose any of this, and yet we go through our lives, through the world, being held responsible.' It was a real moral struggle, and a great educational experience.
And then the next day, my friend and I - another Jewish American Princess - went to Auschwich. Where we struggled with a different type of guilt: survivors'. We had a happy, privileged childhood, simply because our grandparents or great grandparents decided to move location (in my case, 3 of 4 grandparents left Russia - and the Kossacks - as children. The fourth was a German Lutheran - you can only imagine how THAT went down when she married a Russian Jew - just before WW2!)
Your brave piece made me really think. I've grown up thinking the Japanese are a really cool culture - my boyfriend & I used to study Karate & his brother wrote the Karate Kid series - and it's like I truly forgot that hey! they were on the 'wrong' side of the war, too. And the thing we all need to keep in mind is that history is always written by the winning team.
There's a fabulous film I hope you can get hold of somehow - if you haven't already seen it - called MAX, starring John Cusack. I won't say anything about it - but as a student of fashion (and presumably, art) you'd love it.
I wish you well over there - lucky you! - and again, thank you for making me THINK on this glooomy rainy London morning.
jCx
I'm a bit late but thank you very much for this profound blog entry.
I won't even get into why people would find Hitler "good" or "cool", but just the fact that these thoughts have been made into a t-shirt as fashion and style statement scares me.
About the Germans and their percpective regarding WW2, I understand how you feel and think. I got to know a group German friends during high school exchange trips and a few holidays. I'm proud to say that they were head-on, realistic and real about the past. No excuses but just that a fact is a fact and we hope to learn from our history. Such inspiring, true and good young people give me hope that someday ignorance in this wold may go away.
And on another thing: thank you so much for the comment about my matured style! That really made my day! Here's what I responed on my blog, thought I'd copy/paste and make it easier for you to read:
The Kitten: you really think so? I feel that I’ve matured as well, just haven’t been able to put it down in words. I suppose others can describe your own style better somehow, in a way you can’t see yourself. Mature yet still playful. Thank you, this means a lot to me!
great post.
co-opting and appropriation paired with ignorance makes me stabby.
Hi Kitten: Oh this is such a great read and I am really glad you pointed it out in your latest post to read the comments section.
So I have loads of things to discuss regarding this, starting first on fashion, pop culture and History. Somehow the world became fixated on finding icons and glorifying them through pop art: Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe, Che Guevera included. So now, Hitler. A lot of people do not know about the history or background, but instead find these symbols identifiable as 'pop' or 'fashionable'.
In Singapore, we have a lot a lot of communist memorabilia. From China, Mao Ze Dong little statues sold to place on your dining table, the Little Red Book, posters from old communist times. You can even call these collectible items or communist art.
I used to really like collecting communist items because (1) we do not have such symbols in society so much nowadays (2) the art and drawing is unique and interesting, reflecting strongly the ideas of communists.
However I cannot say I totally understand communism or revolution ideas - I just feel drawn to the art.
I guess it is the same for Hitler symbols or the Swastica symbol, here in Asia people simply react to it instead of thinking deeper.
After meeting and hearing opinions of Europeans, I realised that communism isn't 'cool' at all - this creates a conflict in me because I still like to look at it and think and learn, but yet I have folded and put away Communist themed shirts which I used to collect previously.
I think in our age we have a lot of conflict, from globalization, history, the Internet, accessibility... I am Chinese but living in Singapore because my ancestors moved here from China. Yet I speak English much better than Mandarin.
Sometimes I think back (Singapore was attacked by Japan in WWII) and wonder if Japan or Germany had won the war, now I will be speaking Japanese instead. Will I be better off if Japan had won? I don't think so because after all I am Chinese.
At the same time, not all Japanese are evil, my relatives who live through Japanese rule has said that some Japanese have treated civilians in Singapore with care.
Even as now, you and Fruchtzwerg are Asians living in Germany yet living through as German nationality faced with WWII attitudes from the world... that is very complex in itself.
ALL this said and done I am seriously looking forward to meeting you and Fruchtzwerg somehow this year, I am really sure we have a lot to talk about.
love
stephie
From what I know, in Japan today, they still do not admit their fault in WW2 nor own up to the atrocities they committed during the war. Instead, they claim (still) that they were trying to help bring prosperity to Asia. As such, this generation of Japanese do not even realise the great damage their country caused during WW2.
yes, they have never apologised, their text books do not speak of it, and they hope to continue living like it all never happened. and what can we do about this? nothing, really. if the Japanese want to continue living in their little bubble, then (unfortunately) there is nothing we can do.
I do applaud you Germans though, for accepting it, understanding the hurt caused, and learning to deal with it while moving on in life. Rather than hiding or running from it (aka the Japanese), you've grappled with it, and that, I believe, brings maturity to the nation and the people.
I constantly find it ironic that, living in Singapore, while we were once occupied and persecuted by the Japanese, they have now become a great source of income by greatly contributing to the tourism side of our economy. How times have changed.
That being said, I do think that there will constantly be a voice in our heads (well, most of ours) about how these people, less than a century ago, were the ones who imprisoned us, yet now brazenly believe in their innocence in playing such a part in our nation's history.
It is something unforgivable for them to deny the world's history and laud theirs as being above it, especially when they figured in such a big way during the war. Honestly, all it would take is one apology, admitting that they were wrong and that they deeply regret what damage they caused. But they of course will never do this; after all, they are the people who will never admit defeat.
ah well.
This is really fascinating to get all these perspectives. I did a paper on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in college; it's something that has always fascinated me. What I was able to conclude at the time (long time ago) is that even after the first bomb was dropped, the country was not informed through the media, and they did not capitulate until the second bomb. I was reading translated newspapers on microfilm, so I don't know how totally accurate that is, but it follows with the comment above about not admitting defeat.
I did not suffer from the War, but I personally people who did. And I know that there was so much propaganda that resulted in increased hatred that still lingers.
Still, the annihilation of two large cities by the first and only detonation of nuclear weapons to date is a pretty stiff sentence. From what I know, I wish with all my heart that a different way had been found to end the war. But what more do people want? Almost everyone who fought in the war is gone or dead. It's really a totally different country. As is America, and yet people still want those alive today to apologize for slavery, which millions of Americans died to end in the Civil War almost a century and a half ago!
Sorry if my thoughts are a bit disjointed, I'm still suffering from jet-lag.
When I was in Dresden in 2001, we stayed at a hostel. I was traveling with three German girls and I pointed out how there was no German flag in the eating area where all other nation's flags were displayed. They told me it was the concern of an association with being a proud German leading to Nazism. That made me sad to hear because I never thought of it that way at all. They also proceeded to tell me about the holocaust education Germans receive, which made me glad to hear.
I don't think its fair to hold today's generation accountable for the wartime atrocities in Germany, but at the same time I can understand where some of the misguided blame is coming from. The wounds are still far too fresh. This isn't something that affected just the victims, but their families and the offsprings they may have had. The neo-Nazi movements probably don't help either. Even if the movement is in North America the whole Nazi connotation is associated with Germany. (I am not saying it's right at all to blame Germany for something happening across the pond, but some people will just think like that.)
As for Japan, they really need to own up to what they did (does anyone remember the Chinese protest a few years ago of all things Japanese as a reaction to their new textbooks omitting what they did during WWII?). A couple years ago, I watched a documentary on Nanking where Japanese soldiers from WWII were interviewed. It made my blood boiled when they laughed and bragged about the killings and the rapes they committed.
I'm not of the opinion that the topic (Hitler) is taught very good in German schools. It's taught very onesided. Anyway... thank you for this interesting post.
I hate it so much when people make judgements on the Germans of today, or even me, or my mom's side of the family, without really understanding what they are talking about.
It's always hard for me to know who to defend, who to feel sorry for, as my dad was raised Jewish in America, and my mom Catholic in Germany. People are sometimes appalled to hear that my dad would marry a German, but i've never met anyone in Germany that had any problem with it. The Germans of today know what happened in the past, and are good people because of it in my opinion. Other people, however, are not always so tolerant.
Interesting post.
Though the japanese only occupied Vietnam for a short period of time,they caused widespread famine and cruelty,especially in the North of Vietnam.
My mum usually makes accounts of that dark time..when my great grandfather travelled to Hanoi to buy gold (because he had a business in the middle regions of Vietnam),and people were so malnourished and just lying dead in the streets.
Anyone who touched food would get whipped.It's so terrible,I just don't understand...and who knows what other horrors they committed.
Furthermore,Japanese students who visit our memorials in Australia have frequently wept at WW2 displays.This image of a Japanese commander beheading allied soldiers is most powerful..
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