The New York Times | Opinion
LETTERS
Sept. 12, 2014
Re “When sanctions lead to war” (Opinion, Aug. 22): Paul J. Saunders makes a valid point about the decision of Japan’s leaders to go to war against the United States in 1941: Given the economic sanctions the Japanese were facing, they had no choice but to strike out for the conquest of Asia because the survival of the regime was at stake.
For Japanese leaders, what was most important was the welfare and fate of those who held power; they believed that it was better to risk a war that they knew had little prospect of winning than to capitulate and bring an end to military-centered rule. They were little concerned about the hardships and suffering that the Japanese people would face. It is a wonder that some Japanese people can pay respects to such leaders, who were responsible for a reckless war, and even consider them to be “war heroes.”
Ko Unoki, Fujisawa, Japan
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