The Written Confessions By Yoshio Miura

http://www.saac.gov.cn/zt/zfbg/img/03sp/03sp.htm

      Yoshio Miura

Abstract Of The Written Confessions In English

 

Yoshio Miura(三浦芳男)

According to the written confession of Yoshio Miura on 16 August 1954, he was born in Chiba Prefecture, Japan in 1920. He joined the Japanese War of Aggression against China in 1940 and was captured in August 1945.

Major offences:

In August 1941: In Tai'an County, Shandong Province, the gas-canister training team for recruits "captured eight peasants doing farm work in the high fields nearby, had them kneel down on a depression of the highland"; and "ignited two middle-sized Type-95 red canisters on the windward side and smoke emerged"; "dragged up five or six of those bending down on the ground and forced the victims to breathe in the gas".

In September 1941: In Laiwu County, Shandong Province, "together with others, killed two peasants" "to seize concealed weapons".

In April 1942: In Xintai County, Shandong Province, "broke into a civilian house in a village, threatened a Chinese woman aged 27 to 28 with a bayonet and raped her".

In June 1942: In Zhangqiu County, Shandong Province, "broke into a civilian house in a village, saw a Chinese woman aged 27 to 28, pushed her down on the kang and raped her". "Together with others, beheaded nine peaceful peasants" "to seize concealed weapons." In late August, for the purpose of seizing concealed weapons, "beat and interrogated 74 peasants with torture", "11 of them were interrogated and killed by myself".

In July 1942: In Zhangqiu County, three of his companions "pushed a captured peasant into a 20-feet-deep dry well, and I threw down a rock of around 50 kilograms to kill him". Near Xianggong Village, Zhangqiu County, captured a peasant, "covered his mouth with a towel, bloated his belly with about 20 liters of cold water, making it hard for him to breathe, and then fed him with dung, beat him on the belly, private parts, head and feet with a shoulder pole...and killed him after an hour of interrogation and torture".

In August 1942: In mopping up Zhangqiu County, "after interrogating a captured female peasant, I bayoneted her to death on the spot". In addition, "while searching the village, I saw a Chinese woman aged around 30 (pregnant for about six months) in a room and raped her".

In November 1942: In Fushan County, Shandong Province, "together with Private First Class Tatsuo Ohashi, saw a woman aged around 20 in a nearby house and gang-raped her". "Invaded a place with about 14 to15 women inside at night and threatened them with bayonets", "raped one of them aged 27 to 28" in front of others.

In December 1942: In Huangxian County, Shandong Province, "raped a Chinese woman aged about 20 at the bayonet point in a house".

In February 1943: In Guantao County, captured a male peasant aged around 30 and "I bayoneted him to death".

In early October 1944: In Tai'an County, ordered his subordinates "to shoot dead 13 Chinese, ... claiming that they colluded with the Eighth Route Army". In mid-October, together with a companion, "shot dead a Chinese", "on the ground that he colluded with the Eighth Route Army".

 

The Original Text Of The Written Confessions

Translation Of The Written Confessions (Chinese)

The Written Confessions By Ken Yuasa

http://www.saac.gov.cn/zt/zfbg/img/02tq/02tq.htm

Ken Yuasa

Abstract Of The Written Confessions In English

 

Ken Yuasa(汤浅谦)

A Japanese war criminal confessed that he and fellow military surgeons "conducted live-body operations" on captives and performed "operation demonstrations by killing" two captives, according to the State Archives Administration on Wednesday.

The second in a series of 31 handwritten confessions from Japanese war criminals published online features one by Ken Yuasa, who was born in Tokyo Prefecture, Japan in 1916. He joined the Japanese War of Aggression against China in January 1942.

According to the written confession of Ken Yuasa on Nov 20 1954, he "carried out vivisection demonstration" on captives, "forced down a large dose of anesthetic into the live body of a captive in order to check the symptoms when the victim was alive or dead" in late March 1942 in Lu'an Army Hospital in north China's Shanxi Province.

"I practiced a 'tracheotomy' on another captive," he confessed, adding that after the experiment, "I, together with another military surgeon, strangled him with a belt."

On 14 April 1942, in the First Army Engineering Team (POW internment camp) in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, Yuasa "let about 30 military surgeons living in all army hospitals and field hospitals in Shanxi province perform surgical demonstrations on live bodies of four captives."

In late August 1942, in the dissection room of the hospital, more than ten surgeons "conducted live-body operations on and killed" two captives, according to the confession.

"I cut open the trachea of a captive with field tracheotomy apparatus for practice," he said, adding "another captive was subject to intravenous injection of anesthetic and chloroform, in order to test how these drugs can cause people to choke to death."

In late March 1943 in the same hospital, more than ten surgeons performed "operation demonstrations by killing" two captives, he added.

From February 1942 to November 1943, he "got the inpatients' fresh bacteria of typhoid, Type-A paratyphoid and Type-B paratyphoid, and gave them to the Field Epidemic Prevention and Water Supply Department of the 36th Division stationed in the south side of Lu'an City," he said.

"It was provided regularly at least four times a year, and I supplied this unit with bacterin for bacterial warfare as many as eight times," Yuasa said.

In early April 1944, Yuasa used two captives as "materials for operation practice" for over 10 military surgeons.

In late September 1944, after two captives were sent to the hospital under escort, "I provided one of them as material for operation demonstration to about 10 military surgeons of the dissection room. The other one was given to the Hospital Director, who beheaded the captive," he confessed.

In late January 1945, Yuasa "provided" a captive "as material for live-body operation demonstration to the military surgeons of the dissection room of the hospital and about ten military surgeons of the 14th Independent Infantry Brigade."

In mid-March 1945, about 10 military surgeons used two captives in custody as "materials for operation demonstration in the dissection room," he said

A total of 31 confessions from Japanese war criminals will be published online starting Tuesday to expose crimes committed by Japan in China during World War II.

The handwritten confessions, along with Chinese translations and abstracts in both Chinese and English, have been published on the website of the State Archives Administration.

"These archives are hard evidence of the heinous crimes committed by Japanese imperialists against the Chinese," a State Archives official said.

The confessions, which have never been released before, detail crimes perpetrated by the Japanese, including killing, enslavement and poisoning of Chinese people, as well as the use of biological and chemical weapons on live human subjects.

The Original Text Of The Written Confessions

Translation Of The Written Confessions (Chinese)
 

The Written Confessions By Kenzo Sugishita

http://www.saac.gov.cn/zt/zfbg/img/01sx/01sx.htm

Kenzo Sugishita

Abstract Of The Written Confessions In English

 

Kenzo Sugishita(杉下兼藏) 

Kenzo Sugishita was born in 1901 and joined the Japanese War of Aggression against China in 1932.

On Feb 3, 1932, at a village about eight kilometers south of Tianle Temple in Shanghai, the squadron gave the instruction to shoot all on sight, resulting in the killing of an estimated 30 Chinese people, Kenzo Sugishita said in the confession.

"On Feb 19, 1932, I caught a child of about six years old escaping from the fire at Lujia Bridge, laid him on a stone in front of the door, beat him to death with stones, and threw the dead body into the burning house," he added.

The Original Text Of The Written Confessions

Translation Of The Written Confessions (Chinese)

 

http://www.theworldofchinese.com/2015/08/rice-vs-wheat/

Rice Vs. Wheat

Saturday, August 8, 2015 | By: David Dawson

It's sunset, somewhere in the American Midwest. Amid the rustling wheat fields, a solitary farmer drives a gargantuan machine through the rows. Meanwhile, as the sun rises on the other side of the planet, Chinese rice farmers are moving along shallow pools of water in lines, gathering the crops in groups. Once collected, they will enjoy breakfast as a group.

Scenes like these have been handy stereotypes for generations. The rugged individualism of the American farmer has long been a staple of film and literature, not to mention a defining trait of the American self-image. Likewise, Chinese have defined themselves by their familial ties and collectivist culture. But is there a rice grain of truth in any of these stereotypes? And can they be scientifically proven?

Thomas Talhelm, now a PhD candidate at the University of Virginia, is exploring the idea that the culture and psychology of people in various regions are affected in a measurable way by the methods of farming they use—his hypothesis being that rice farming leads to a more collectivist culture, while wheat farming breeds individualism.

As his study outlined in the May 2014 edition of Science magazine notes, the easiest way to test whether rice and wheat lead to different cultures would be to show that the rice areas of East Asia foster cultures that are interdependent, and that wheat areas in the West are independent.

In Guangxi, one of China's southernmost provinces, a group of farmers work together to transplant rice

But as soon as the idea is put out there, it gets shot down. "That logic is obviously flawed. We cannot just compare East and West because they differ on many factors besides rice and wheat—religion, politics, and technology—to name a few."

What is needed, is a country with a shared government, language, history, and religion that farms rice in some areas and wheat in other areas.

Basically, China. With the country split between rice farming in the south and wheat farming in the north, with the dividing line being a zone stretching from the Yangtze River north to the Huaihe River, China itself holds the literal and figurative seeds necessary for this research.

The idea came to Talhelm when he was living in Guangzhou after spending some time in Beijing. "I got a sense that people living there were pretty different," he says. "That got the seed in my mind, north and south are different. For the longest time I didn't have an explanation for why this was. I knew I wanted to study it systematically and see if it was true."

Differences between North and South China have long been themes in Chinese tales, idioms and commentary. "It's not as if I told China that people from the North and South are different, people knew about it, but I had never seen people actually test it."

One popular saying is not far from the hypothesis of Talhelm's study: "一方水土养一方人" which loosely translates to, "The water and soil of an area shape the people."

Another story, revolving around Yan Zi, a Prime Minister of the State of Qi during the Spring and Autumn Period around 2,500 years ago, cites Yan telling foreign functionaries: "They say orange trees have sour and dry fruit in the north, but sweet fruit in the south. Their leaves are similar but the taste is different. Why? Because the environment is different." He then continues: "People in Qi don't steal. But when they come to Chu, they become thieves. The environment of Chu is probably conducive to that kind of behavior."

Yan Zi was most likely directing a not-so-veiled insult toward his hosts, but it's obvious to anyone with a passing interest in China that there are indeed vast cultural differences between regions. It was this that piqued Talhelm's interest. "This question was always on my mind. Why does this difference exist?"

A farmer rides a tractor to sow wheat in Northern Anhui Province on a 13-square-kilometer piece of farmland

It began with language. "I was in this class on dialects and they would show us maps of different words. One of them was the word 手 ( shǒu ). I had always learned that to mean hand, but in certain parts of China it can also refer to the whole arm…They were showing us this map of where it means hand and where it can also mean arm, and I thought it would not be random…But it was almost evenly divided along the Yangtze River."

"My first thought was that it was a barrier, or a border. But it's not, people can just get in a boat and cross, it's not like a mountain."

"I don't know at what point it hit me, at some point I learned that that is the dividing line between rice and wheat…There is some background in psychology and anthropology, they call it subsistence theory, the idea that what you do to make a living historically and culturally influences your culture today."

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

To cut to the chase: yes, the study concluded that there were cultural differences and that they were delineated by the borders between areas that traditionally grew rice and those that grew wheat. The reason for this basically boils down to labor.

Rice paddies require standing water, thus people in rice-growing regions traditionally needed to build large, elaborate irrigation systems that required the cooperation of all the farmers in the village. Water use had to be carefully calculated, because one farmer's water use would affect their neighbors. Entire villages were required to build, dredge and drain these irrigation networks, rather than lone individuals.

A Chinese farming guide, cited in the study, from the 1600s states that "if one is short of labor power, it is best to grow wheat," and said that Chinese anthropologists, as far back as the 1930s, had found that a Chinese husband and wife would not be able to farm a large enough plot of rice to feed a family if they relied solely upon their own labor. Or, as Talhelm states, "It wasn't cooperation with other people for warm fuzzy things—you literally needed to work with these people to get food on the table…This raises the cost of conflict—if I am a jerk to you today, we still have to work together tomorrow. That makes it a lot more awkward and potentially threatens my livelihood if I create conflict. Compare that to wheat farmers who don't really need to have these labor exchange customs."

…….

"Rice Vs. Wheat" is a feature story from our latest issue, " Law ". To continue reading, become a  subscriber  and receive the  full magazine . Alternatively, you can purchase the digital version from the  iTunes Store .

 

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>>>[Windwing]:The 2 Cultures China

 

http://www.theworldofchinese.com/2015/08/chinese-teachers-take-over/

Chinese Teachers Take Over

Being educated in a Chinese school is not something many foreigners have had the pleasure of experiencing—though most Chinese students would say that their education was anything but pleasurable.

A group of 50 students from a comprehensive school in the UK are trying out first-hand this Chinese style of education in a BBC documentary, Are Our Kids Tough Enough? Chinese School .

This, combined with the invasion soundtrack used, may be trying to suggest something

In the show, five Chinese teachers go to Bohunt School in Liphook, UK, to dish out a plate of Chinese education . From the tracksuit uniforms to the gregariously large classes, the lucky—or unlucky—students, aged 13 or 14, are spending almost a month under the tutelage of these Middle Kingdom educators. At the end of this very special program, they will be pitted against students who are learning the Blighty way in math, science, and Mandarin.

And we're off to a great start

Unsurprisingly, the physical changes made to their daily lives have been received with a smile and laughter. The morning exercises are enjoyable and misbehaving children sent to stand in the corner regard the punishment as a hilarious novelty. Learning-wise, some seem to relish the method of delivery—information seemingly force-fed to students, with the majority of class time occupied with note taking. Others are unable to comprehend the dictatorial rule that a Chinese teacher apparently wields.

There's always one

It is commonly known that Chinese schooling is much tougher than many of their western contemporaries. Students spend half the day at school and then go home to continue their homework. The university entrance exam, Gaokao (高考) , is famous for being one of the most stressful times in a student's life.

But the role teachers play in school may be one of the more unfamiliar aspects. They demand the utmost respect and pupils have no option other than to oblige. Standing to attention, showering them with gifts on special occasions , and not questioning orders are all normal happenings. There have been cases of teachers abusing their authority , and the more progressive ones have tried to implement new teaching ideas, but deviations from this norm have been few and far between.

At the end of this BBC documentary series, it will be interesting to see how the British students have progressed and whether they will show better improvements under Chinese teachers. On the other hand, this may all just be clever marketing ploy by the school and the [insert winning country here] education style.

Which method do you prefer?

Teachers are a big part of our lives and sometimes it is nice to show appreciation. For gift ideas, maybe take a leaf out of this student's book .

Cover image from 30edu.com

Five Ancient Chinese Idioms That Explain the Modern Tongue

http://www.ozy.com/c-notes/five-ancient-chinese-idioms-that-explain-the-modern-tongue/32504

Five Ancient Chinese Idioms With Modern Cachet

Why you should care

Because you probably don't know as much as you should about one of the biggest countries on the planet. Yet.

What do you think when you think of China? A repressive government, human rights abuse, corruption scandals, terrible pollution? Admit it, I'm right.

Here's what you probably don't know: China is as rich in language as it is in engineers.

Many modern, everyday Chinese idioms have their roots in ancient poetry. These idioms, which are each composed of four Chinese characters, are totally unique to the language. Chinese has 20,000 such idioms in total; only one or two thousand are commonly used. But Chinese schoolkids often spend their days reciting them in class.

Chinese poetry "is a window to a world that is very foreign and advanced," says Ron Egan, a professor of Chinese literature at Stanford University. "By the 7th and 8th century, the Chinese [had] mastered the art of expressing themselves, which didn't happen in any other place in the world."

This is no esoteric idea. There's even a hot television program called China Idiom Convention. This show, which aired Sundays from April to June, tested competitors' knowledge of idioms. More than 30,000 people signed up to compete. Videos netted nearly 2 million clicks on Youku, one of China's biggest online video sites.

So if you're trying to understand the Asian giant, boning up on your Chinese idioms might help. 

A Shade of a Willow and Bright Flowers
Hillary Clinton quoted the Chinese poem "A Trip to Mountain West Village" by Lu You at the Shanghai 2010 World Expo to celebrate the hard work in building the USA pavilion, which Clinton financed by raising $60 million in private cash.

"There is a poem from the Southern Song dynasty that reads: 'After endless mountains and rivers that leave doubt whether there is a path out, suddenly one encounters the shade of a willow, bright flowers and a lovely village.'"

The original meaning? "A favorable turn of fortune will often appear just when there seems to be no way out of trouble."

Clinton implied that difficulties came with establishing the U.S. pavilion. The Chinese use the same idiom in less vaunted settings, such as: "My new job is a lot of hard work; I haven't found that feeling of 'the shade of a willow and bright flowers.'"
Hearts With Magical Rhinoceros
Rhinoceros horns are powerful, supernatural objects in old Chinese sayings.

"Even though my body is not a colorful phoenix with two wings to fly [to my lover], we have hearts that understand each other immediately as though connected with a magical rhinoceros."

So wrote Li Shangyin, a famous male poet from the Tang dynasty (7th–10th B.C.) in an untitled poem.

Today in China, people often say, "You get me — we really [have] hearts with 'magical rhinoceros.'"

Figure of a rhinoceros, Zhou Dynasty, China.

Leaving [Your] Name on Light-Green History
Sure, you want to make your mark on history — but why "light-green" history? Before paper was invented in 105 B.C. in China, events were recorded on light-green bamboo slips, which involved "sweating" bamboo over a fire to get the moisture out.

In the 13th century, ages after Sun-Tzu penned The Art of War, Chinese poets were using literature to document military ambitions.

This idiom comes from the poem "Passing by Lingdingyang" (also known as "Crossing the Lonely Ocean") by the great politician and poet Wen Tianxiang. The poem, which Tianxiang wrote while leading an army to fight for the fate of the Song dynasty, reads:

"In history, what man does not die? [I'd rather] leave my red heart to shine on light-green sweat."

"Apricot Blossoms" by Qi Baishi

 

A Red Apricot Blossom Peeks Over the Yard Fence
A pretty plant, but so much more.

"[The] whole garden can no longer confine the lively energy of spring; a spray of red apricot blossom [already] peeks over the fence."

So wrote Song dynasty poet Ye Shaoweng in "On Visiting a Garden, When Its Master Is Absent."

Modern readers see this as symbolizing a woman's infidelity to her husband. The "red apricot blossom" symbolizes a young and attractive woman, while "peeking over the fence" shows her sneaking out.

Even today, Chinese people will say, behind gossipy hands: "Behind her husband's back, she [is like] 'a red apricot blossom peeking over the yard fence.'"

 

Reach a Higher Level on the Tower
The idiom comes from the poem "On the Yellow Crane Tower" by Wang Zhihuan of the Tang dynasty. After climbing the famous tower, Zhihuan writes:

"[I] desire to see thousands of miles [from this tower], [so I need to] climb to a higher level."

To see farther, you need to stand higher. This poem is often used to encourage students and workers alike to set higher goals.

Now you know why Chinese students work so hard. You would, too, if you had to memorize idioms like this from a young age.

 

 

Lose-Lose Game：Python And Porcupine Fight

The Porcupine Body Strong, Back, Buttocks And Tail Are Born Black Brown And White With Thick And Straight Spinning Lamented Thorns, Like A Sharp Arrow , Very Hard And Sharp, Often Make Ferocious Beast Also Dare Not Close.

According To The British "Dailymail" Reported On June 24, Recently, A Snake Lies Dead In After Swallowing A 30lb Porcupine Which Stabbed It To Death With Its Quills, Was Found Beneath A Rocky Ledge At Lake Eland Game Reserve In South Africa.

This Giant Snake Died After Swallowing A 30lb Porcupine – Which Punctured Its Insides With Its Razor-Sharp Quills.

Eating Itself To Death: The Four-Metre African Rock Python Was Found Dead Next To A Cycle Track At Lake Eland Game Reserve In South Africa.

While Some Predators Are Warned Off By The Visual Threat Displays Of A Porcupine, Many Snakes Rely On Thermal Or Chemical Sensory To Ambush Prey At Night.

Lose-Lose Game：Python And Porcupine Fight.

Bitten Off More Than It Could Chew: The 30lb Porcupine After Being Cut Out Of The Snake's Stomach By Game Reserve Keepers.

Stabbed To Death: The Porcupine Quills That Were Found Inside The Snake's Stomach While The Python Was Trying To Digest Its Last Meal.

More>>> [Windwing] Anaconda And Tiger

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dl-cade/this-may-be-the-most-beau_b_7611248.html

This May Be The Most Beautiful River On Earth

If  the Soca river  in Slovenia isn't the most beautiful river on this planet, it is most certainly in the running. Nicknamed "The Emerald Beauty," it has appeared in multiple well-known poems and inspired awe in many a wanderer and tourist.

The nickname is, as the photos below attest to, well-deserved. It is one of the rare rivers that maintains an emerald-green or even bluish color all the way down its 138 kilometers (~86 miles), making it a favorite of landscape photographers the world over.

This, as you might expect, means there are some incredible photographs of this green-blue beauty on  500px ... it was only a matter of time before it became the subject of its own collection.

This is just a small selection of amazing photos of an amazing river, to see more  click here  and browse to your heart's content.

Or, if you have another river you think is better, or even just another incredibly picturesque place you think deserves its own collection, tell us about it in the comments!

This post originally appeared  on the 500px ISO blog .

http://thediplomat.com/2015/06/time-to-bust-this-myth-the-united-states-didnt-modernize-china/

Time To Bust This Myth: The United States Didn't Modernize China

Both countries benefited tremendously from their close economic ties.

By Dingding Chen

June 15, 2015

A prevailing view among policymakers and strategists in Washington seems to be that the United States has been betrayed by China. This is because despite over three decades of "constructive engagement," China is neither democratic nor docile. Instead, today's China is authoritarian and increasingly assertive in its domestic and foreign policies. Thus, a deep sense of having "created Frankenstein's monster" is popular among American strategists. A closer analysis would reveal that such a view is not only misguided but also dangerous for U.S.-China relations in the future.

The first major problem with this view is that it is not consistent with the history of U.S.-China relations. It very much sounds like the United States simply handed "modernization" as a gift over to China in the last 30 years or so. This view is flat-out wrong. It not only neglects the huge benefits that China's exports to the United States have on the U.S. economy itself, but also utterly downplays Chinese agency itself. Here is not the place to explain in detail how China's economic success has come about, but there's one thing we can be sure of: China's success so far would be impossible without its millions of hard-working and skilled laborers. Moreover, it is not like the United States opened its market access exclusively to China. The U.S. only granted China normal trading status, just as it did for many other Asian states. Market access itself did not result in China's modernization.

If access to the U.S. market could help a developing country develop quickly, then countries like India and Brazil would have already become economic powerhouses many years ago. The reality is not that simple, of course. To successfully move up the economic ladder, a country needs smart government policies, hard-working people, abundant natural resources, and a huge amount of foreign investment, just to name a few necessary conditions. A bit of luck helps too.

Moreover, as former U.S. President Richard Nixon himself later admitted, the real reason to engage China was not to help China modernize; it was rather to play the China card to balance the common threat of the Soviet Union. That realist strategic thinking, of course, indirectly helped China gradually become an economic powerhouse. But it would be wrong to argue that the U.S. selflessly helped China modernize over the last three decades. It was simply an unexpected outcome of their relationship. Not only did the United States not see this coming, the Chinese didn't either.

To be sure, China should be grateful that many Americans and American companies did try to help China modernize, and Chinese people will not and should not forget them. China is richer now and this is why it and the United States should work together to help less developed countries develop. Whining about how China has not turned out the way the U.S. had hoped is not going to help strengthen U.S.-China relations. It is time now for the U.S. to accept a different and strong China, no matter how uncomfortable it might be. To continue to view China through an ideological lens will lead to a new type of Cold War between the two largest economies in the world. That would be a tragedy, to say the least.

Most importantly, the United States should be patient with China's progress. Given China's history, culture, and still relatively modest developing living standards, its road to a modernized political system will be long and bumpy. Now is not the time for the U.S. to conclude that there is no hope in China. Instead, Washington should double its efforts to constructively engage China and ultimately shape China's future choices. This strategy, eventually, will pay off, but it also requires a huge amount of confidence and patience. Time is on the United States' side, especially if American strategists truly believe their system and values are universal.

http://www.thenewsminute.com/worlds/1288‍

Did The British Use Human Babies As Bait During Crocodile Hunts‍?‍

The News Minute | March 16, 2015 | 5.45 pm IST

Human babies were used as bait to hunt crocodiles in India and other British colonies. In some colonies, advertisements were even placed in newspapers promising the safe return of the baby.

Two Sri Lankan wildlife experts have said in a research paper published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa in January 2015, that British colonialists "rented" babies in India, Sri Lanka and also in America to hunt crocodiles. The research paper titled "Were human babies used as bait in crocodile hunts in Colonial Sri Lanka " was authored by Anslem de Silva and Ruchira Somaweera.

The researchers quote several newspapers that published reports on how the British used babies of the local people to bait crocodiles India and Sri Lanka, but note that there was uncertainty as to how common the practice was. ‍

Image used for representation only‍

On September 1, 1894, the Record Union published a report titled "How British Sportsmen Hunt Crocodiles in India" quoting a British Army officer as saying that it was a "great sport" in India to hunt crocodiles.‍

This image was published in Long-based newspaper The Graphic on January 21, 1888.‍

The report says: "We used to have a great sport in India going out after crocodiles with Hindu babies as bait." The report also details that the parents of the babies were paid six cents per day and that sometimes, the parents would not even insist that the babies were returned safely. The officer also claimed that with one particular baby girl as bait, he had shot 100 crocodiles and that it was not possible to follow the same practice in Florida, in the United States, during the same period. 

Several newspapers such as The Red Cloud Chief, The Helena Independent, Desert Evening News, Roanoke Times, referred to an advertisement titled "Babies wanted for crocodile bait. Will be returned alive." which was published in a Sri Lankan newspaper named Ceylon Catholic Messenger.‍

Article in the Roanoke Times which quotes the advertisement in the Ceylon Catholic Messenger.‍

Accounts in various newspapers indicate that the British thought that the crocodiles were attracted to the brown skin of the babies and were attracted to the shore by their cries. After shooting the reptile, the hunter would take possession of the skin and head and leave the rest of the flesh for the local people. One newspaper said: "The baby is taken home to its loving parents, to be used for the same purpose the next day."

British colonialists also followed a similar practice in the United States where the babies of African-Americans were used as late as the early 20th century to hunt for crocodiles. A headline in the Oakland Tribune published on September 21, 1923 read "Pickaninny bait lures voracious gator to death". The report says that the babies of black parents were used a live bait for two cents. Pickaninny is a derogatory term for blacks.

However, the researchers note that the existence of the practice need not mean that it was common or even widespread. They say: "It is also important to note that the frequency of these does not necessarily imply that the practice was common or widespread. Indeed, it appears that an article in one newspaper was picked up and reproduced by other newspapers, even at a much later date (e.g., after eight years in one case above), just as it does nowadays, albeit electronically and much faster."‍

The Shape Of Japan To Come

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/17/opinion/the-shape-of-japan-to-come.html ‍

The Shape Of Japan To Come

Alexis Dudden is a professor of history at the University of Connecticut.

Bolstered by his party's victory in Diet elections last month, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has renewed his vow to free Japan from the fetters of the past, especially its defeat in World War II. Mr. Abe and his supporters view the prevailing accounts of that era as "masochistic" and a hindrance to taking pride in what he calls the "new Japan." They propose to modify the article in Japan's Constitution that states the Japanese people "forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation."

These aspirations have been laid out in a map of Japan that the Japanese Foreign Ministry published on its website last April, with translations in 12 languages. The map extends beyond Japan's internationally recognized boundaries, incorporating in the name of ryodo — or the "inherent territory" of Japan — many islands claimed by neighboring countries. Those lands, the argument goes, are integral to Japan's very being.

In fact, the Abe government's expansionist view undermines Japan's interests, both economic and strategic.

Ryodo promotes a notion of Japan's territory that circumvents history, particularly the history of how Japan laid claim to these islands in the first place — through imperial wars with China and Russia, through wars of conquest against Koreans, through the extermination or assimilation of indigenous peoples.

Partly as a result, Japan is embroiled in many territorial disputes. China and Taiwan contest the Senkaku Islands, which Beijing calls the Diaoyu and Taipei the Diaoyutai. South Korea claims Takeshima (calling it Dokdo) where it has stationed military police since 1954. Russia claims sovereignty over what Japanese know as the Northern Territories, four islands in the Kuril chain northeast of Hokkaido where Russians have lived since 1945, numbering about 20,000 today.

Under the terms of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Japan already has access to vast fisheries and rides up to $3.6 trillion in seabed materials. The disputed islands would add much more. ‍

Tokyo is more aggressively claiming island groups that have long been in territorial dispute. The government highlighted these 3 areas on a new map. Sources: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan; 

According to some estimates, including by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the East China Sea holds 200 million barrels in proved and probable oil reserves (the world consumes around 90 million barrels of liquid fuels each day) and between 1 and 2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas (the United States consumed about 26 trillion cubic feet in 2013). Japan and China contest nearly 17 percent of the area.

A volcano on one of the southern Kurils has rhenium, a rare-earth metal with a melting point that makes jet-engine designers dream. There are also vast quantities of untapped methane hydrate in the seabed between Japan and the Korean Peninsula. After gas was extracted from similar deposits elsewhere for the first time in 2013, a spokesman for the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation said, "Japan could finally have an energy source to call its own."

The lure of such riches might seem like reason enough for resource-poor Japan to claim these territories. The government spent $250 billion on imported fuel in 2012. And the cost of decommissioning the nuclear reactors at Fukushima after the meltdown following the March 2011 tsunami is expected to reach at least $90 billion.

Yet Japan risks losing access to many of these resources because of its brinksmanship. UNCLOS does not determine sovereignty over land, and it allows for joint development agreements in waters around contested territory. When disputes heat up, however, they naturally tend to scuttle any joint schemes.

In 2008 China and Japan agreed to explore together four gas fields in the East China Sea. But the project was scuttled the following year, after China went at it alone. Mr. Abe's maximalist policy only undermines the prospects that this development project could be revived, or that new ones involving Japan might be struck.

The costs of Mr. Abe's territorial revisionism are also strategic. Ryodo implicitly dismisses as partial the terms of the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty, which formally ended World War II between Japan and the Allies. The agreement redrew Japan from the massive empire it had become during the war — stretching from northern China to Guadalcanal — more or less into the country familiar today. (Some islands, notably Okinawa, reverted to Japan in the intervening years.) Many Japanese at the time, including Mr. Abe's grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi — who was accused of being a Class A war criminal — were infuriated, claiming in particular that the Kurils were "essential" to the Japanese.

In a separate agreement that went into force at the same time, the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty of 1951, the United States would "maintain armed forces of its own in and about Japan" in order "to deter armed attack upon Japan." By the time the treaty was revised in 1960, Japan had acquired limited self-defense forces, and the two countries undertook various commitments in case of "an armed attack against either Party in the territories under the administration of Japan." These still stand today, hence the critical importance also for the U.S. government of properly defining what Japan is.

Officials in Washington and Tokyo are currently reviewing each side's responsibilities in the event of a threat to the peace and security of Japan. One fraught issue is the United States' dual obligation, under separate security arrangements, to defend both Japan and South Korea because one could attack the other over territory they both claim. In other words, the very notion of ryodo challenges the United States' postwar security commitments even as it risks triggering them.

Mr. Abe's revanchist view of the past is central to his vision of a future in which Japan "once again shines on the world's center stage." But it distorts history in a way that undermines the country's major interests and, arguably, its identity. The constitutional changes advocated by Mr. Abe's party include an "obligation" for citizens of Japan to "defend the nation's inherent territory, inherent seas and inherent skies," disputed islands and all. The proposed draft adds that, "All citizens must honor the Constitution," suggesting that failure to do so could endanger their rights, maybe their citizenship. In his bid to claim more for Japan, Mr. Abe may reap less. ‍

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