How Oppenheimer reveals Japan’s self-denial on WWII
Japan’s convoluted and paradoxical attitude towards its imperial past.
Unlike Germany, who banned the Nazi party and distanced itself from fascism after WWII, Japan never undertook the crucial steps of holding its former Imperial government accountable. The legacy is omnipresent in Japan’s society, with its most recent display evident in Japan’s conflicting sentiments towards the movie Oppenheimer.
By Yueyonghuan, 7 April 2024
Oppenheimer finally opened in Japan on March 29. Beginning with a series of investigations and accusations against Oppenheimer, best known as the "father of the atomic bomb," led by the U.S. government in the 1950s, the movie delineates a tortured life led by a man whose research and invention brought about massive deaths.
The most prominent reaction from the Japanese audience focused on what they claimed to be a lack of depiction of Japanese victims of the nuclear bombs.
Such reaction is quite consistent with Japan's enduring attitude towards nuclear bombing over many years, where harm brought by the nuclear bombing i…
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