"Ukrainian 'Holodomor' and ... Japanese propaganda; What Japanese authors offer to Russian diplomats"

 * "Ukrainian 'Holodomor' and ... Japanese propaganda; What Japanese authors offer to Russian diplomats" (2020-09-09, by Koshkin Anatoly Arkadievich - Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor of the Institute of Oriental Countries, via fondsk.ru/news/2020/09/09/ukrainskij-golodomor-i-japonskaja-propaganda-51802.html) [archive.is/MMDXN], translation:

Cover photo: The signing of the Japanese-Soviet non-aggression pact

While working in Japan, I was always amazed at how primitive Japanese propaganda is when it puts forward claims to the Kuril Islands, which again became Russian after World War II. The principle is simple: the sharper the accusation, the more "lethal force" it has. 

From school, the Japanese are hammered into their heads that Russia is an insidious, evil country, it cannot be trusted. As the main "argument" is usually used the fact that the USSR entered the war with Japan, when the Japanese government refused to surrender even after the atomic incineration of the civilians of Hiroshima. Both falsifications and gross insults towards our country are used here. Japanese propaganda clichés are unpretentious, they must educate people in a spirit of hostility, even hatred, towards Russia. 

So, it is argued that Japan, having concluded a Japanese-Soviet pact of neutrality for five years on April 13, 1941, allegedly faithfully and honestly fulfilled it even when the German leaders, after Hitler's attack on the USSR, demanded, according to the Triple Pact of Germany, Japan and Italy, strike the USSR from the east. And the Soviet Union, before the end of the official term of this pact, unexpectedly and treacherously "attacked Japan", acting as a "thief in the fire", illegally seized its "primordial northern territories", that is, the Kuril Islands. 

- image caption: Signing of the anti-Comintern pact of 1936

At the same time, in my experience, not all Japanese know that the Soviet Union entered the war not "treacherously and treacherously", but in compliance with international law and diplomatic regulations, warning about the possibility of joining the war on the side of the Allies four months in advance. But the memory of how treacherously and insidiously Japan attacked Russia in 1904 and the American and British military bases in the Pacific Ocean and Southeast Asia in December 1941, has not yet been lost.

Let us recall what was said in the statement of the Soviet government to the Japanese government on April 5, 1945:

“The pact of neutrality between the Soviet Union and Japan was concluded on April 13, 1941, i.e. before the German attack on the USSR and before the outbreak of war between Japan, on the one hand, and Britain and the United States of America, on the other.

Since then, the situation has changed radically. Germany attacked the USSR, and Japan, Germany's ally, is helping the latter in its war against the USSR. In addition, Japan is at war with the United States and Britain, which are allies of the Soviet Union.

In this situation, the Pact of neutrality between Japan and the USSR lost its meaning, and the extension of this Pact became impossible.

By virtue of the above and in accordance with article 3 of the said Covenant, which provides for the right of denunciation one year before the expiration of the five-year term of the Covenant, the Soviet government hereby declares to the Japanese government its desire to denounce the Pact of April 13, 1941 ”.

- map caption: Unrealized offensive plans of the Japanese militarists against the USSR

The assertions of Japanese historians and propagandists that the Yalta agreements on the entry of the USSR into the war in the Far East "two to three months after the surrender of Germany and the end of the war in Europe" in Japan allegedly learned only in February 1946 are a lie, they deliberately misleading. There is evidence that the Japanese military intelligence in Europe, just a few days after the end of the Yalta conference, informed Tokyo about the upcoming entry of the USSR into the war with Japan. It is no coincidence that Fumimaro Konoe, who served three times as Prime Minister of Japan, after the Yalta Conference, hastily drew up a memorandum addressed to Emperor Hirohito with an urgent proposal to end the war as soon as possible before the Soviet Union entered it.

And the Soviet government entered the war in compliance with the norms accepted in the world, having officially declared it. On the eve of the outbreak of hostilities in Manchuria, the USSR People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs V.M. Molotov handed a statement to the Japanese ambassador for transmission to the Japanese government, which stated:

“After the defeat and surrender of Hitlerite Germany, Japan turned out to be the only great power that still stands for the continuation of the war.

The demand of the three powers - the United States of America, Great Britain and China on July 26 this year for the unconditional surrender of the Japanese armed forces was rejected by Japan. Thus, the proposal of the Japanese Government to the Soviet Union for mediation in the war in the Far East loses all ground. "

The statement indicated that the USSR was joining the Potsdam Declaration and accepting the allies' proposal to participate in the war against the Japanese aggressors. “The Soviet Government believes, ” it emphasized, “that such a policy of itss is the only means capable of bringing the advance of peace closer, freeing the peoples from further sacrifices and suffering and enabling the Japanese people to get rid of the dangers and destruction that were experienced by Germany after its refusal from unconditional surrender.

In view of the foregoing, the Soviet Government declares that from tomorrow, that is, from August 9th, the Soviet Union will consider itself in a state of war with Japan. "

The reason for returning to these facts of history was a recent publication in the Japanese edition of JP Press , where its author Kuon Amata lashed out with false accusations of the Russian embassy in Tokyo, which allegedly is engaged in "distorting history." The author writes: 

“The recent messages of the Russian embassy on Twitter and Facebook are puzzling. At the end of World War II, the USSR attacked Sakhalin and the "northern territories", despite the existing neutrality pact. This fact is known to many Japanese people. Despite this, the embassy has tweeted this aggression. They calmly write messages that make the Japanese nervous . "

And here is the statement posted on the Facebook account of the Russian Embassy:

“The Soviet-Japanese pact of neutrality of April 13, 1941 was terminated on the basis of the Statement of the USSR Government of April 5, 1945, made due to a radical change in circumstances, namely, the provision of assistance by militarist Japan to Nazi Germany in the struggle against our country precisely in violation of the above pact. The validity of this statement was subsequently fully confirmed by the materials of the Tokyo Military Tribunal on November 4-12, 1948, as well as by the relevant provisions of the UN Charter. "

Unable to refute the facts stated by the embassy, ​​the author of the article resorted to casuistry. In an absurd way, he connected the episode of the USSR's entry into the war with Japan with ... the "famine of the Ukrainian people" [in reality, the famine that seized in 1932-1933. vast territories of the USSR, not only Ukraine. - A.K. ]. Linking the historical fakes of Ukrainian nationalists to Soviet-Japanese relations in 1945, Amata states: “There is a certain innocence and directness in these messages (from the embassy). One gets the impression that a person has no feeling of guilt at all about aggression and ignoring the pact of neutrality. I think this is the result of truly terrifying things. " . They say that now Russia, like the USSR in the case of the "Holodomor", is hiding and distorting the facts, saying that "the USSR tore up the Soviet-Japanese pact of neutrality, therefore it became invalid .  "

Amata also gets it from Russian diplomats, who, "having studied the false history ... proudly write about the Russian aggression (?!) In the northern territories . " And the “recommendations” of a Japanese journalist follow: “If Russian diplomats want to engage in effective informational activities (propaganda), then they need to study the real history and think about the feelings of the Japanese who read such messages. This is an extremely difficult task for Russian diplomats who have studied false history . "

In the opinion of Amata and others like him, Japanese propaganda should serve as a reference point for Russian diplomats, justifying the Japanese militarists, who doomed the Japanese people to the horrors of carpet and then atomic bombings. Propaganda that does not recognize that it was the entry of the USSR into the war that saved tens of millions of Japanese from extermination, whom samurai generals were preparing to slaughter in a reckless battle under the slogan "Ichioku Gyokusai!" - "One hundred million will die with honor!" ...