Apologies are all the rage. President Clinton apologised for the slave trade. Tony Blair apologised for the potato famine. The list goes on. Why this rash of apologies? Is it a good thing?
A month ago I was in Tokyo working on a television documentary about Japanese war apologies (or the lack of them). One of my tasks was to interview a former Japanese war criminal. He had been an army doctor, who had taken part in medical experiments in China. Budgets were tight and time was short. My brief was made clear by the director. “We want two things,” he said. “We want him to tell us exactly what crimes he committed, and we want him to cry. You have 20 minutes.”
The elderly doctor was used to this. He had been interviewed many times before. He was one of the repentant Japanese. He had been around schools, warning children about the horrors of war, and gone to China, to apologise. He knew what was required. The details of his crimes were duly revealed, and his eyes moistened in time.
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