Japanese people of reddit, how is WW2 Japan perceived by modern Japan?

1. I'm Japanese. I grew up in the states, and visited Japan every 1-2 years. For the past 2 years I've been living in Tokyo because this would probably be the last chance I'll ever get to truly experience what it feels like to live in Japan. Most people I meet (30s-60s) are generally not too attached to the outcome of the war. Many of them admit that the government was getting too powerful and committing atrocities throughout Asia. Some people think the Japanese are brainwashed into thinking that the atrocities did not happen (history book issue, etc.), but in reality, most Japanese people I meet understand that we killed many innocent people for the wrong reasons. Some people do state that Japan was "pushed into the war" through geopolitical tactics (Yasukuni Shrine stuff), but that is disputed. To be honest, no one really cares too much anymore. Post WW2, we experienced the benefits of capitalism and experienced a huge growth in the economy. Western culture seeped into Japan, through Hollywood movies and fashion, and nowadays Western countries are seen as cool/fashionable. The economic bubble finally popped and changed the culture quite a bit financially, but it's been so long that no one really thinks too much about WW2 anymore. On top of that, no one here speaks about political views/opinions very much. It's considered rude since you could potentially offend someone. My grandfather was actually hit by the atomic bomb in Nagasaki when he was a child. He told me that, on that day, he was going to play baseball with his buddies. He forgot his bat and glove, so he headed back home to get all his stuff. That's when the bomb went off. He was within 1km of the hypocenter. Apparently, there was a sudden white flash, and he was thrown against the wall of his room. He screamed for his mom, who survived that blast. She crawled towards him and they embraced. He got out with a fractured skull and backbone (I think). Then they headed out of Nagasaki. I always try to get more stories out of him, but all he says is, "I don't really remember. I think we...uhhhh...ate grasshoppers?" He moved back to Nagasaki after a few months to his burnt down home, and his family had to start from scratch. Schools were deserted, and 3/4 of the kids he knew were dead. I don't know much else, but eventually, he got married, had 3 kids (including my dad), and my dad had me. Most of us were born in the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Hospital. Surprisingly, my gramps has no beef with America. If anything, he loves American culture. Whenever I visited him as a kid, he was watching Star Trek or a Mariners game. He always wore a Mariners cap and tried to speak basic English because he thought it was cool. I had moved to the states when I was 3, and gramps thought it was super cool. My grandma would call me when I was younger and would ask me to recite the Pledge of Allegiance on voicemail so she could put it on a tape recorder. My parents said she was always listening to it on her deathbed. (She died of cancer when I was in kindergarten) Sorry, that was a ton of information. But I hope it somehow answered the question. Edit: Thanks for reading everyone :) I'm glad you all enjoyed the story. I have to get ready for work soon, so I thought I'd find some pictures. Sorry for the quality -- they're shots of an old album. https://ibb.co/j4iXnH https://ibb.co/mGRUZx
   — fucchy


2. There's a fascinating [Quora post](https://www.quora.com/What-do-the-Japanese-think-about-World-War-II) answering this question. Here's a snippet: > Instead of using the word “defeat”, “The End of War” is the title. The bomb and the Soviets broke the treaty of neutrality to invade Japan. With this sequences of sad news, the government held a meeting with the attendance of the Emperor. Opinions divided, but the prime minister obeyed the sacred decision of the emperor to accept the Potsdam Declaration. His Jewel Voice was broadcasted and the Japanese army put down the weapon and the war was ended. And in another comment in the post: > The first thing a Japanese person would think of WW2 is not the damage that the Japanese military inflicted, but instead the sufferings and sacrifices the common citizens went through to support their troops, and the realization that they were living a lie when finding out that Japan was not as strong and invincible as they thought they were against the world.
   — elee0228


3. Well apparently I will be the only Japanese person answering this question today. The short answer is: generally very negatively. It was an oppressive regime. Some of the other commenters are right that a lot of the focus is on how it affected Japan's own people, but to an extent that's inevitable. What you have the most experience of is how something affected you. Especially in the decades following the war, Japan swung all the way in the other direction and became ardently pacifist, and very much against the WW2 era regime. I think it's less so in recent years as there is a steady rightward shift in politics. But even among right wings who are not ideologically against it, I get the impression that the WW2 regime is at least seen as kinda incompetent.
   — Kytescall