THE CHARIOT RISING SUN ROLLS
49.
THE CHARIOT RISING SUN ROLLS
In Greek mythology the Sun God Apollo
moves around Heavens daily in a chariot driven by white steed. It is as a
result of this that day and night and the seasons occur.
Once Phaeton, the son of Apollo, had a wish:
to move around in the chariot with grandeur like his father. He got in the
chariot. The horses bolted. The son of Apollo got flustered, unable to control
the horses in their flight.
During this time Nature lost all its
moorings. It was as though the sun, the moon and the stars were about to be
flung away from their positions. Exposed to the extreme heat the skin of the handsome
men of Africa became dark and ugly. There was only one way to save the universe
from total ruin. Zeus, the greatest of the Gods, threw his fiercest weapon,
lighting, at Phaeton and killed him.
Will the son of Apollo start his chariot
race again? Will history repeat itself? These are the questions heard in the
corridors of history as one hears the rumblings of the military resurgence of
the land of the rising sun, Japan. The Jubilee of Pearl Harbour bombing is over.
The shadows of death even today stalk the ghostly lands of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. The World observed, with tears, Hiroshima Day on the sixth of August.
It is against this background that one has to look at the possibilities of and
whispers on Japan interfering in world politics in more of a military way.
The people of Japan who are not yet out
of the traumatic memories of their grievous sufferings during the Second World
War may not be prepared for another military adventure. Japan does not have
much of a military strength either. The Japanese army itself is named as
security force only. Its total strength is three lakh. But if you consider the
amount spent on defence, Japan will occupy the third position in the world. But
the Japanese people do not consider their security force in any way more
important than the big moustacheoed security guards striding up and down public
buidings grandiosely waving their sticks. The very fact that youth are not
coming forward to join the army is an indication of lack of lustre of the armed
forces. Japanese parents refuse to give their daughters in marriage to military
officers. The standing of the army in the society has come down to that
pitiable level.
Recently militarization became a topic
of discussion in Japan. When different world powers sent their forces to the
Gulf war along with America, Japan kept away. It is true that a lot of funds
were given. But America felt that it would be good if Japan too sent its forces
to the Gulf. The Japanese leadership also was in favour of limited military
partnership. Once again this inflamed the anti-military mentality of the
Japanese people and the Japanese parliament decided to slash the funds budgeted
for the security forces. Japan, one of the most prominent industrial powers of
the world, is capable of achieving prominence in military strength also. It
only requires a policy decision.
Why is Japanese people so averse to militarization.
There is a reason. The present generation of Japan has grown up singing hymns
to resurgence. The impressive growth and prosperity that Japan achieved after
its total devastation and near annihilation during the world war are feats
recorded in the glowing pages of world history. Now Japan is in the forefront
of developed nations. Japanese people know well that it is where military
adventurism failed that industrial adventure rendered prosperity to the nation.
Japan has the history of destroying others and destroying itself when the
overpowering ambitions of the feudal lords and the extreme adventurism of the
military leadership joined hands to steer the chariot of wasted desires. Japan
can claim to a long military history coloured by ultra adventurism and
extraordinary imagination as in a romantic drama. But the feudal-military
leadership could not convert the shine of the armour to a shine on the face of
the short statured Japanese people. It is for this reason that the Japanese
people see the army not as a protector but as a destroyer.
For centuries the Shoguns held their
sway in Japan. They prohibited any commerce with foreigners for fear that
contact with the outside world would undermine the foundations of their
unfettered power. In 1958 when Commodore Perry challenged them with four ships,
the Shogun leadership had to surrender to the naval force.
Japan which got awakened from its self
imposed isolation, started to communicate with the western world. The Meiji
rule was re-established once the 14 year old Mushito was crowned as Emperor. Japan
was on the road to progress and prosperity and the feudal lords and the
military leadership saw this as an opportunity to get their supremacy
established. It is only natural that feudal lords of Japan who considered
themselves as subjects of the emperors of the Sun’s race took everything under
the sun as destined for them. In their view the common men were only
aberrations of nature. Before the Meiji era a custom was prevalent in Japan
enabling a feudal lord to behead a commoner who forgot to smile when he saw him.
Bertrand Russell had jokingly said this was the secret behind the Japanese
people smiling always. When prosperity and grandeur increased, the haughtiness
of the feudal lords also took wings.
In 1896 the Japanese army sent to Korea
returned victorious. Japan overcame China in war. When Japan defeated Russia in
1904 it became the pride of Asia and the nightmare of the world. In the First
World War Japan conquered the Pacific establishments of Germany. In the Paris
Peace conference after the war, Japan participated as one of the five super
powers. It became a member of the League of Nations. Japan which changed sides
in the second world war challenged the military strength of America by bombing
Pearl Harbour on December 7, 1944. After the initial victory, Japan was also
defeated along with Germany and Italy. America shattered the morale of Japan by
bombing Hiroshima on 6th August 1945.
Then came Mac Arthur. Though Mac Arthur
set foot on Japan as the head of the occupying forces it was Mac Arthur who
laid the foundation for developmental evolution of Japan. It would not be wrong
to depict Mac Arthur as the architect of modern Japan.
The only nation that does not consider
the right to maintain an army as a part of its sovereignty is Japan. The ninth
article of Japanese constitution stipulates that Japanese people for ever give
up the right to war. Japanese people who understood that peace has her
victories no less renowned than war utilized the national gift of hard work and
efficiency towards industrial development.
The militarily minded Samurai who always
stood against modernization came forward to surrender voluntarily the special
privileges and rights they enjoyed to make Japan a great threat to America and Europe
in the industrial sphere.
It is possible that nations also show
the natural tendency to lord over neighbours when they became prosperous. It is
keeping this in mind that we have to assess the popular upsurge in Japan against
militarization. The Japanese people were so emotionally charged against
militarization that they were not willing even to permit their armed forces to
participate in an air show or demonstration mission. How good it woud be if
they were a model to the rest of the world!
America has proved in Iraq and Afghanisthan
that it is possible to eliminate the enemy with lightning speed using
ultra-modern electronic technology through hi-tech military tactics. If Japan
gets militarized it will certainly become capable of rendering the skies and
the earth hellish areas through total annihilation if they wanted. When
Apollo’s son’s chariot rolled on only the skin of the African people got darkened.
If the rising sun rolls the chariot, it may be possible even to destroy the
face of world civilization. It is the good fortune of the era that the Japanese
people themselves have taken on the task of sending the lightning against it,
as Zeus did.
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