{"id":13525,"date":"2015-04-15T07:00:40","date_gmt":"2015-04-15T12:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/for-the-u-s-and-japan-legacy-of-wwii-is-still-painful\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:20:08","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:20:08","slug":"for-the-u-s-and-japan-legacy-of-wwii-is-still-painful","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2015\/04\/15\/for-the-u-s-and-japan-legacy-of-wwii-is-still-painful\/","title":{"rendered":"For the U.S. and Japan, legacy of WWII is still painful"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visits Washington this month, he will become the first Japanese leader to speak before a joint session of Congress, seven decades after the end of World War II, in which the two countries were enemies.<\/p>\n\n<figure><a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/global\/2015\/04\/07\/americans-japanese-mutual-respect-70-years-after-the-end-of-wwii\/#the-role-of-history-in-the-u-s-japan-relationship\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.pewresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/04\/US-Japan-Report-12.png\" alt=\"U.S., Japan, WWII\" width=\"309\" height=\"433\"><\/a><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nearly a third of Americans cite World War II as the event that stands out when they think about relations between the United States and Japan, <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/global\/2015\/04\/07\/americans-japanese-mutual-respect-70-years-after-the-end-of-wwii\/#the-role-of-history-in-the-u-s-japan-relationship\">according to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center<\/a>. By contrast, only 17% of Japanese say WWII is the most significant occurrence in modern bilateral ties.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nonetheless, the devastating event of the U.S. dropping atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 has long divided Americans and Japanese. Today, 56% of Americans believe the use of nuclear weapons was justified; 34% say it was not. In Japan, only 14% say the bombing was justified versus 79% who say it was not.<!--more--><\/p>\n\n<figure><a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/global\/2015\/04\/07\/americans-japanese-mutual-respect-70-years-after-the-end-of-wwii\/#the-role-of-history-in-the-u-s-japan-relationship\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.pewresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/04\/US-Japan-Report-11.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"309\" height=\"563\"><\/a><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not surprisingly, there is a large generation gap among Americans in attitudes toward the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Seven-in-ten Americans 65 years of age and older say the use of atomic weapons was justified, but only 47% of 18- to 29-year-olds agree. There is a similar partisan divide: 74% of Republicans but only 52% of Democrats see the use of nuclear weapons at the end of WWII as warranted.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite this lingering disagreement over the justification for Hiroshima and Nagasaki, few Americans or Japanese believe Japan owes an apology for its actions during WWII.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A majority of Americans have moved past Japan\u2019s actions during WWII. More than a third say that Japan has apologized sufficiently for WWII and about a quarter hold the view that no apology is now necessary. Just 29% voice the opinion that Japan has not apologized sufficiently for its actions during the war. Again, it is younger Americans (73%) who are most likely to put Japan\u2019s role in WWII behind them, while older Americans (50%) are less convinced.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has long divided Americans and Japanese: 56% of Americans say it was justified, versus 14% of Japanese.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":null,"sub_title":"","_crdt_document":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,98,428],"bylines":[988],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[507,514],"research-teams":[525],"class_list":["post-13525","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-international-affairs","category-war-international-conflict-1","category-war-international-conflict-2","bylines-bruce-stokes","formats-short-read","regions-countries-asia-pacific","regions-countries-international","research-teams-global"],"label":"Short 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