Thursday, January 03, 2008

How Empires Deal with History: Rewrite It, Said Prime Minister Fukuda

In this English language version of his New Year's greetings (the long version), Prime Minister Fukuda says, “One hundred years ago, in nineteen-oh-eight, the Russo-Japan War ended, ushering in a period of respite for Japan…” Yet we have no plans to celebrate that great victory. And Mr. Fukuda calls it the Russo-Japan, not Japan-Russia, War. And is the Nippon Kaigi doing anything about this? The sissies!



A more accurate re-rendition of the Japanese original would be, “A hundred years ago, Japan had seen the end of the Russo-Japan War and was enjoying a period of respite...”

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