Japanese war crimes occurred during the period of Japanese imperialism, primarily during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. Some of the incidents have also been described as an Asian Holocaust and Japanese war atrocities. Some war crimes were committed by military personnel from the Empire of Japan in the late 19th century, although most took place during the first part of the Shōwa Era, the name given to the reign of Emperor Hirohito, until the military defeat of the Empire of Japan, in 1945.
Historians and governments of some countries officially hold Japanese military forces, namely the Imperial Japanese Army, the Imperial Japanese Navy and the Imperial Japanese family, especially Emperor Hirohito, responsible for killings and other crimes committed against millions of civilians and prisoners of war. Some Japanese soldiers have admitted to committing these crimes.
Senior Japanese Government officials have issued numerous apologies for the country's war crimes since the 1950s. Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that the country acknowledges its role in causing "tremendous damage and suffering" during World War II, especially in regard to the IJA entrance into Nanjing during which Japanese soldiers killed a large number of noncombatants and engaged in looting. Some members of the Liberal Democratic Party in the Japanese government such as former prime ministers Junichiro Koizumi and Shinzo Abe have prayed at the Yasukuni Shrine, which includes convicted Class A war criminals in its honored war dead. Some Japanese history textbooks only offer brief references to the various war crimes, and members of the Liberal Democratic Party such as Shinzo Abe have denied some of the atrocities such as the use of comfort women.
War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict (also known as international humanitarian law) giving rise to individual criminal responsibility. Examples of such conduct include "murder, the ill-treatment or deportation of civilian residents of an occupied territory to slave labor camps", "the murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war", the killing of prisoners, "the wanton destruction of cities, towns and villages, and any devastation not justified by military, or civilian necessity".
Similar concepts, such as perfidy, have existed for many centuries as customs between civilized countries, but these customs were first codified as international law in the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907. The modern concept of a war crime was further developed under the auspices of the Nuremberg Trials based on the definition in the London Charter that was published on August 8, 1945. (Also see Nuremberg Principles.) Along with war crimes the charter also defined crimes against peace and crimes against humanity, which are often committed during wars and in concert with war crimes.
The Japanese people (日本人, Nihonjin, Nipponjin?) are a nationality originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries are referred to as nikkeijin (日系人?). The term ethnic Japanese may also be used in some contexts to refer to a locus of ethnic groups including the Yamato, Ainu and Ryukyuan people.
The Japanese language is a Japonic language that is sometimes treated as a language isolate; it is also related to the Ryukyuan languages, and both are suggested to be part of the proposed Altaic language family. The Japanese language has a tripartite writing system using Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. Domestic Japanese people use primarily Japanese for daily interaction. The adult literacy rate in Japan exceeds 99%.
Japanese religion has traditionally been syncretic in nature, combining elements of Buddhism and Shinto. Shinto, a polytheistic religion with no book of religious canon, is Japan's native religion. Shinto was one of the traditional grounds for the right to the throne of the Japanese imperial family, and was codified as the state religion in 1868 (State Shinto was abolished by the American occupation in 1945). Mahayana Buddhism came to Japan in the sixth century and evolved into many different sects. Today the largest form of Buddhism among Japanese people is the Jōdo Shinshū sect founded by Shinran.[citation needed]
Bombs to settle arguments the order of the booth
Can you hear them crying in the rubble of Beirut?
I can still see people dying, now who takes the blame?
The numbers are different, the crime is still the same
From the graves of Belsen where the innocent will burn
To the genocide in Beirut, Israel, was nothing learned?
I can still hear people crying, now who takes the blame?
The numbers are different; the crime is still the same
Bombs to settle arguments, the order of the booth
From the graves of Belsen, to the ruins of Beirut
I can still see people dying, now who takes the blame?
She's a devil in disguise
You can see it in her eyes
She's telling dirty lies
She's a devil in disguise, in disguise
Now a woman like that all she does is hate you
She doesn't know what makes a man a man
She'll talk about the time that she's been with you
She'll speak your name to everyone she can
She's a devil in disguise
You can see it in her eyes
She's telling dirty lies
She's a devil in disguise, in disguise
Unhappiness has been her close companion
Her world is full of jealousy and doubt
It gets her off to see a person crying
She's just the kind that you can't do without
She's a devil in disguise
You can see it in her eyes
She's telling dirty lies
She's a devil in disguise, in disguise
Her number always turns up in your pocket
Whenever you are looking for a dime
It's all right to call her but I'll bet you
The moon is full and you're just wasting time
She's a devil in disguise
You can see it in her eyes
She's telling dirty lies
She's a devil in disguise, in disguise
In disguise, in disguise
In disguise, in disguise
Bodies piled on burning pyres
-No more war, no more crime-
People starved, tortured & murdered
Teenagers drafted to hang on barbed wire
You should have gone to Canada
You could have run away
But you couldn't shame your parents
You say you had to stay
So you get yourself drafted
So you went ahead and went
And you thought you'd be a hero
And not a dissident
War Crime... War Crime
You used to be a good boy
You used to be the best
Then you tried the drug
Ad you dreamt about the west
Everyone's your enemy
Everyone's your friend
Your world was upside down
To kill was not to sin
So you shot the wrong woman
Or you shot the wrong kid
Now Sam will make you regret
That you ever did
But you had no choice
You were told what to do
Orders from the helicopter crew
War Crime... War Crime
Back home they wanted blood
For the atrocities
For the innocent who died
On they're TVs
They demanded justice
They demanded you
They wanted to watch you hang
Till you turned blue
War Crime... War Crime
And the president said that that's OK
Because it takes they're attention away
>From the real crime, the war
There are no war crimes
War is the crime
You should have gone to Canada
You could have run away
But you couldn't shame your parents
You say you had to stay
So you get yourself drafted
So you went ahead and went
And you thought you'd be a hero
And not a dissident
War Crime... War Crime
You used to be a good boy
You used to be the best
Then you tried the drug
Ad you dreamt about the west
Everyone's your enemy
Everyone's your friend
Your world was upside down
To kill was not to sin
So you shot the wrong woman
Or you shot the wrong kid
Now Sam will make you regret
That you ever did
But you had no choice
You were told what to do
Orders from the helicopter crew
War Crime... War Crime
Back home they wanted blood
For the atrocities
For the innocent who died
On they're TVs
They demanded justice
They demanded you
They wanted to watch you hang
Till you turned blue
War Crime... War Crime
And the president said that that's OK
Because it takes they're attention away
>From the real crime, the war
There are no war crimes