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【原創翻譯】美：抱歉日本 請不要拿靖國與阿靈頓相提並論
作者：愛你是命也是夢 發表日期：2014-01-21
Sorry, Japan: Yasukuni Is Not Arlington
美：抱歉日本 請不要拿靖國與阿靈頓相提並論
來自美國國家利益網站的文章http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/sorry-japan-yasukuni-not-arlington-9718
在美國人還沉浸在2013年的聖誕節的時候，日本首相安倍晉三精心策劃並高調參拜了位於東京的靖國神社。
靖國神社供奉着日本在1945年戰敗後經國際法庭審判屬於戰犯級別的人物，並給予了他們特殊的榮譽，時刻提醒着人們日本在二戰期間給亞洲人和西方人帶來的巨大傷害。然而，安倍晉三對所有這些批評置若罔聞，並稱他參拜靖國神社與美國總統訪阿靈頓國家公墓性質一樣，沒什麼區別。
這個比喻是極其錯誤的，阿靈頓國家公墓與靖國神社之間的巨大差異為我們解釋了為什麼這位首相對靖國神社的參拜如此具有挑釁意味。這兩個地方無論歷史意義與精神價值都相距千里，雖然兩者都是內戰的產物，但是靖國神社將焦點專注於第二次世界大戰，並將自己的軍國主義立場理想化，而阿靈頓國家公墓則是對國家、對民族悲傷記憶的祭奠。
阿靈頓國家公墓的前身是南北戰爭期間南軍司令羅伯特·李的莊園，1864年聯邦軍准將蒙哥馬利·梅格斯在占領莊園後將住宅周圍的土地徵收,建立了軍人公墓，這樣如果李的家人回來，他們將會被墓碑和服喪的寡婦環繞。梅格斯的目的就是讓這座莊園成為為人們帶來苦難的內戰的象徵。
不同于靖國神社，阿靈頓公墓埋葬着軍人以及他們的家人，他們在此安息，與美同在。
靖國神社則完全背道而馳，它是建於1869年的宗教信仰的產物，目的是將神道教所提倡的以天皇為中心的思想植根到國家政體中。在靖國神社，從19世紀中期日本內戰到二戰結束，那些為天皇而戰的人都被稱為與天皇合為一體的神靈，這是對戰亡的士兵的至高無上的獎勵。
阿靈頓公墓則不同，這裡不會區分性別、宗教和種族;而在靖國神社，只有那些迷信神道教、為帝國效忠的靈魂們能夠與天皇同在，並且有許多超出常規的例外，二戰後被執行絞刑以及死於巢鴨監獄的14名甲級戰犯就是典型的案例，這裡不能供奉一些日本的社會人士，也不能為無名人士設牌。
現如今的靖國神社是一座舉行宗教儀式、進行節日表演的私人公園，在主殿的左邊，常年落鎖的大門後坐落着一座名叫鎮靈社的小型神龕，用來安定帝國敵人的靈魂，以免他們對活人造成麻煩;四周是日本二戰時不同的機構建立的一系列小型的神龕，包括臭名昭著的憲兵隊。
此處還有一座用來美化日本戰時行為的被稱為游就館的現代博物館，展示着日本在戰時的事件和技術，以“大東亞戰爭”及相關“事件”為甚。這些敘述規避了原子彈及日本戰敗相關事宜，吹噓在被美國“騙”入戰爭後，日本是如何從西方殖民者手中解放亞洲等等，靖國神社的官網上更是美其名曰“還原日本歷史的真相”。
與之相對，阿靈頓公墓沒有着重於一場戰爭的榮耀或為戰爭找出一個說辭，而是為人們提供了一個可以進行哀悼和沉思的中立的平台，阿靈頓官網對事實的態度嚴謹而柔和，有埋葬的規則、有性能的概述、列出安息於此的名人、志在提供一個“美麗而祥和的地方”。
阿靈頓的精神支柱是它的無名戰士墓，包括四個地下墓穴，分別安息着獻身於一戰、二戰、朝鮮戰爭以及越戰時期的美國人，是團體犧牲的典型代表。
靖國神社是不接納無名人士的，為此，1959年日本政府在靖國神社千鳥之淵附近建立了一個公共公園，一個墓穴埋葬了成千上萬的未知的士兵,水手,以及無數可能死於太平洋戰爭中的平民，類似於美國的陣亡將士紀念日，每年這裡也會有一個官方儀式，由日本首相、一位皇室成員以及外國大使組成，將新的骨灰放入罐中。
最重要的一點，光榮退役是能否安葬在阿靈頓公墓的標準之一，那些被軍事法庭審判、被判有戰爭罪或被定了重罪的人不能夠葬在這裡的。靖國神社就大不同了，除了那14個推動太平洋戰爭的重量級戰犯外，神社裡還供奉着數千個同時觸犯了日本及國際法律的人們，最著名的當屬曾負責管理巴達維亞/雅加達一個“慰安站”的青地鷲雄,他因強迫荷蘭婦女充當慰安婦而於1946年被荷蘭的一家戰爭罪行法庭宣判有罪，最終死於巴達維亞的一所監獄。
靖國神社的存在就是對遠東國際軍事法庭判決的否認。許多日本人持有這樣的觀點：日本帝國不應該按照西方的規則、價值觀行事，遠東國際軍事法庭是“勝利者的正義”。為了強調這一點，日本在神社廣場上建了一座當時印度法官拉達賓諾德·巴爾的巨大雕像，巴爾認為東京審判的裁決是不公平的，認為這只是勝利者對戰敗者的審判。
相比之下，阿靈頓公墓既不會對美國的軍事、政策，也不會對安葬於這裡的士兵個人做出任何有關道德或政治方面的評價，美國人不會通過拜訪墓地來進行個人崇拜，與日本政客不同，美國的政治家們也不會到阿靈頓公墓就當前的外交政策發表言論。實際上，除了感謝他們做出的犧牲外，任何越矩行為都會產生適得其反的效果。但對日本保守派政治家而言，靖國神社已成為日本政界暗中表達挑釁行為和自主權的工具。
參拜靖國神社一直都是一種政治層面上的行為，在這裡挑起戰爭被美化成為保護天皇的崇高的犧牲行為，天皇最初用此神話自己並加強國家的團結，而今，日本首相利用它彰顯日本的獨立、改寫歷史。
神社中的儀式、靈位和博物館都聚焦於日本引起的太平洋戰爭，它是為日本帝國而生的，二戰後再也沒有士兵有進入神社的機會。它的存在是為了講述這樣一個“故事”：一個工業發達的日本將落後的亞洲解救了出來，亞洲同胞都應該對此心懷感恩。
今時今日，靖國神社的主要作用是反駁那些不接受這種說法的人們，它是對日本戰後國際國內法律基礎和平條約、日本憲法的無言否認，安倍以首相的身份公開參拜，模糊了日本政教之間的界線，將天皇重新神話，這兩點都是現代日本合法化的中心。
靖國神社是為了宣告所謂的“勝利”而誕生的，神聖的天皇是對的，而戰勝國卻是錯誤的。靖國神社是沒有悔悟和沉思的，那裡只有肯定，在那裡，日本不是戰敗國，“高尚、無私和勇敢”的日本帝國是為了新的時代而戰的。
靖國神社是挑釁之地，這也是它與像阿靈頓公墓這樣的紀念之地最大的區別。
原文：
Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe made a well-planned and well-publicized visit to the Yasukuni Shrine on Christmas Day in the United States. The Shrine gives special recognition to war criminals tried after Japan's surrender in 1945 and has long been an unhappy reminder of the vast damage Japan inflicted upon Asians and Westerners during World War II. Nevertheless, Abe brushed aside criticism by saying that going to Yasukuni is no different than an American president’s visit to Arlington National Cemetery.
This analogy is mistaken, and the differences between the two places explain why the Prime Minister's visit is so provocative. The two memorials share neither the same history nor spirit. Although both were the result of civil wars, Yasukuni now focuses on the idealization of the Pacific Theater of WWII, while Arlington records the continuing sorrow of a nation.
Arlington National Cemetery was created from the estate of General Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederacy’s armies. Occupying Union Brig. Gen. Montgomery C. Meigs appropriated the grounds around the mansion in 1864 to use as a military cemetery. Meigs wanted to ensure that if the Lee family returned, tombstones and widows in mourning would surround their home. The intent was for Lee's estate to symbolize the pain and suffering caused by the South's engaging in the Civil War.
Unlike Yasukuni, Arlington is a cemetery. The bodies or ashes of those who served and their family members are interred on the grounds. The fallen will continue to rest there as long as the United States exists.
None of this is true at Yasukuni. It is a religious shrine established in 1869 to embed the supremacy of the Shinto faith, the divinity of the Emperor, and the centrality of the Imperial institution into the national polity. At Yasukuni, those fighting for the Emperor from the civil wars of mid-nineteenth century Japan through the end of the Pacific War were transformed into divine spirits to join as one with the Emperor. Here the common foot soldier was rewarded in death by becoming equal to the Emperor.
At Arlington, men and women of all religions and races are buried. At Yasukuni only Shinto is practiced and only the souls of identified and approved members of Imperial Japan's military who died on the battlefield can be apotheosized with the Emperor. There are many exceptions, such as the fourteen Class A war criminals who were hanged or died in Sugamo Prison after the Pacific War. Further, some Japanese social classes are not allowed; and the unknown are not represented.
Yasukuni is now a private park that hosts religious rites as well as festivals. To the left (south) of the main sanctuary, behind often-locked gates, is the Chinreisha, a small shrine which pacifies the souls of Imperial Japan’s enemies so that they will not cause trouble to the living. Encircling the property are a series of small memorial shrines created by various Japanese WWII military units including the notorious Kempeitai (Military Police).
There is also a modern museum, Yushukan, glorifying wartime deeds. The Yushukan displays memorabilia and technology of past conflicts, especially the “Greater Asian War” and related “incidents.” The narrative boasts of how Japan liberated Asia from the Western colonialists after the United States “tricked” Japan into the war. Little is said of the atomic bomb or defeat. The Shrine’s website states “the truth of Japanese history is now restored.”
In contrast, Arlington does not dwell on the glory of any war or push one interpretation, providing instead a neutral ground upon which people can mourn and reflect. Arlington’s website is subdued and factual. It reviews the rules for interment, outlines the property, and notes the famous people buried there. The grounds of Arlington National Cemetery, says the website, are to “provide a sense of beauty and peace.”
The spiritual center of Arlington is the Tomb of the Unknown, which consists of four crypts containing remains of an American from each of WWI, WWII, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. These represent both the collective sacrifice and grief of the country.
At Yasukuni, the unknown cannot be deified. Thus, in 1959, the Japanese government created near Yasukuni Chidorigafuchi a public park that contains a crypt for the ashes of thousands of unknown soldiers, sailors, and likely civilians who died in the Pacific War. Every year, coinciding with Memorial Day in the United States, there is an official ceremony attended by the Prime Minister, a member of the Imperial Family, and foreign ambassadors to add new ashes to the ossuary.
Most important, one of the criteria for those buried at Arlington is an honorable discharge. Those court-martialed, tried for war crimes, or convicted of a felony cannot be interred. This is not the case for Yasukuni. In addition to the fourteen convicted war criminals who were found responsible for carrying forward the Pacific War, there are thousands who violated both Japanese and international laws. Notable is Washio Awochi (sometimes spelled Awachi) a civilian manager of a comfort station in Batavia (Jarkarta) who was convicted by a 1946 Dutch wars crimes tribunal (Case No. 76) of forcing Dutch women to be Comfort Women (sex slaves). He died in a Batavia jail.
Yasukuni is about rejecting the judgments of the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal. Many Japanese still believe that Imperial Japan should not be subject to the rules or values created by the West. The Tribunal is deemed “victor’s justice.” To emphasize this point, a large monument to the Tribunal’s Indian Judge Radha Binod Pal, who questioned the legitimacy its judgments, stands on a plaza at the Shrine.
Arlington, by contrast, makes no moral or political judgments about either American military policy or about the individual soldiers buried there. Americans do not visit the cemetery to worship them. And unlike their Japanese counterparts, American politicians do not come to Arlington to make statements about current foreign policy. Indeed, any effort to go beyond recognition of the sacrifices made by American would backfire internally as well as externally. But for Japan’s conservative leaders, Yasukuni has become a tacit political expression of Japanese defiance and autonomy.
A visit to Yasukuni has always been a political act. War is presented as a noble and glorious sacrifice preserving Japan’s Imperial institution. Originally, the Emperor used it to unite his nation with his divinity. Today, Yasukuni allows a Prime Minister to assert Japan’s independence and recast its past.
The rites, the grounds, and museum all focus on Japan's Pacific War. The Shrine is for Imperial Japan. No postwar soldier is allowed deification. The story Yasukuni wants to tell is that an industrially sophisticated Japan liberated a backward Asia and that their fellow Asians should be grateful.
Today, the Shrine serves mostly as a protest against those who do not accept this narrative. The Shrine tacitly rejects the international and national legal underpinnings of postwar Japan—the Peace Treaty and the Constitution. Abe making an official visit as prime minister to honor the selected souls at Yasukuni blurs the separation between Japan’s religious and political institutions and suggests that the Emperor has regained his divinity. Both are central to the legitimacy of modern Japan.
The Yasukuni Shrine is about declaring victory. The Emperor God was right, the victorious foreigners were wrong. Yasukuni is not about contrition or reflection, but about certainty. There, Japan did not lose the war. Imperial Japan, when Japanese were said to noble, selfless and brave, is longed for as a better time. Yasukuni is a place of defiance, and this is what separates it most from places of memory like Arlington National Cemetery.
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