Emperor Akihito's visit to the UK has revealed that many people in Japan are unaware of the strength of feeling of former prisoners of war in Britain about World War II.

The BBC's Tokyo correspondent Juliett Hindell says Japan's press dislike the way the British have reacted

While no German living after World War II has been allowed to forget that country's wartime atrocities, attitudes in Japan appear to range from unawareness to indifference.

Of a half-dozen English-language Japanese news sites on the Internet, only one acknowledged the UK war veterans' demands to the Emperor this week - and did so by saying Britain should examine its own history before demanding apologies from other nations.

Not all Japanese people know much about POW concerns

The article, in the "culture" section of the Daily Yomiuri, argues that "Britain was the largest colonial power before World War II and although it was responsible for many barbarous acts, such as the 1840-42 Opium War, the country has hardly offered any apologies to its former colonies."

The article notes that Britain is being forced to face up to its past: "When the Queen and her husband, Prince Philip, visited India last year, protesters demanded an apology for the massacre of 379 unarmed civilians by British troops at Amritsar in 1919."

It also cites Prime Minister Tony Blair's apology for British indifference towards the 19th century Irish famine as evidence of a changing attitude.

'Japan is always apologising'

Stories of the PoWs' plans to protest against the Emperor's visit have inspired mixed feelings.

Japanese politician Tadashi Itagaki, himself a former prisoner of war, thinks the British should stop complaining about the prisoners' treatment in the Japanese camps.

"I really wish the British PoWs wouldn't demonstrate," he said. "We have an image of the British as gentlemen.

"Japan is always apologising. Our diplomacy is always about apologising. It's unhealthy."

But such strong feelings about post-war Japanese-British relations are rare.

For many young Japanese people, Britain is simply a source of ultra-trendy clothing, the epitome of modern style.

The war is 'just one more event in history' to be studied

They do not know much about the European experience of the war. One student said: "It is very difficult to know what is going on if you are in Japan. I don't really think that many Japanese people are aware of it."

"I feel it is very distant from us. I consider it just one more event in history," commented another.

But a student in the middle of a class on the history of the war said that World War II is portrayed differently in Japan.

"For European people, World War II is a very deep historic event. We should apologise," he said.
 

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