Kate: The Hinman who attack Risai and Gyousuu’s group in Hills of Silver Ruins seem like a cross between zombies and werewolves.
Do the Japanese have an interest in zombie popular culture? To the same extent as Americans? And do they link their zombies to Voodoo? (American zombies aren't really linked to Voodoo, but everyone pretends they are.)
Eugene: Like Halloween (which has exploded in popularity over the past decade), Hollywood horror has inserted itself into contemporary culture while becoming influential on the home-grown Japanese genres. Consider that an episode of Fruits Basket includes a running joke about "Jason" from Friday the 13th.
Voodoo references can be replaced by similar Shinto concepts. The idea of cursing someone via a symbolic representation of that person (commonly a paper or straw doll) is a common one in Shinto-based horror and goes as far back as at least the 11th century and The Tale of Genji.
The demon slayers in Chainsaw Man hack their way through a whole army of zombies in the big climax, though the zombies are just collateral damage on the way to taking out the Big Bad, an overpowered "gun demon" from the other side of the Pacific.
Kate: Even though Asen is a bad guy, his disposal of Ukou is a relief. In saner times, the man would be held for war crimes.
Do the Japanese have an opinion about war crimes, events like the Nuremberg Trials? Or is the preference to move on? After World War II, were any of the “old guard” left to put on trial or did they fade into the background?
Eugene: The Tokyo War
Crimes Tribunal convened in 1946 and was intended to be a repeat of
the Nuremberg Trials. It was a huge production, lasting twice as long as
Nuremberg, but ultimately turned into little more than a show
trial, with MacArthur leaning heavily on the scales to produce the
outcomes he desired. The proposition that Tojo was analogous to Hitler was
absurd, though if Tojo was guilty then so was Hirohito.
As John Dower notes, MacArthur's campaign to absolve Emperor Hirohito of responsibility "knew no bounds," rendering the whole business an exercise in selectively settling scores, not seeking justice.
As far as I'm
concerned, Nuremberg is the exception that proves the rule that the whole
concept of the "war crime" will inevitably succumb to "victor's
justice." It falls into the same subjective witch hunt territory as "hate
crimes," meaning all the stuff you did that I don't like.
But taking the term at its face value, the purpose of a "trial" is to
settle matters of justice and moral responsibility. So when the Tokyo Trials
were over, the Japanese people by and large considered the matter resolved and
put it behind them.In a 2006 survey conducted in Japan, "70 percent of those who were questioned were unaware of the details of the Tokyo Trials, a figure that rose to 90 percent among those who were in the 20–29 age group."
The "truth commission" approach is far superior. It is preferable in these circumstances to find out what happened and why than to affix blame. In a war, after all, every single person involved is "to blame."
An actual "war criminal" would be prosecuted according to the laws that governed his actions. A guy like Ukou would fall under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Army's Uniform Code of Military Justice and be court martialed accordingly. The problem is rarely a lack of laws on the books. Turkey's building codes aren't very different from Japan's. The difference in Japan is that they are enforced.
