In this blog post, I will compare and summarize the symbols, ideologies, and violent policies employed by Nazi Germany and Japanese militarism during World War II.
Comparison of Symbols
The swastika (Hakenkreuz) is a compound of the German words “Haken” (hook) and “Kreuz” (cross), and its shape resembles a tilted version of the East Asian swastika (卍) symbol. However, the swastika became the symbol of the Nazis when it was adopted as the party flag during the party’s founding in the 1920s. Hitler actively used this symbol on party flags and armbands, and he standardized the color and composition—a red background with a white circle and a black swastika in the center—to maximize its visual impact. The Nazis interpreted this flag as containing elements symbolizing social, national, and racial ideologies, and it eventually became a representative symbol of Aryan racial superiority and anti-Semitism. Although the use of Nazi symbols has been strictly prohibited by law in Germany since the defeat in World War II, far-right and neo-Nazi groups around the world continue to use modified versions of it as symbols.
The Rising Sun Flag (Rising Sun Emblem) is a military flag featuring a design of sun rays radiating from a red sun within the Japanese national flag (Hinomaru), a motif that has been traditionally used for a long time in the crests of samurai families and other contexts. While the form with 16 rays radiating from the sun is generally recognized, various variations exist in the number of rays. After being adopted as the military flags of the Japanese Army and Navy in the 1870s, the Rising Sun Flag became widely recognized as a symbol of Japanese imperialism and militarism. Unlike Germany, which banned the use of the swastika, Japan continued to reuse the Rising Sun motif after the war, incorporating it into the Self-Defense Forces flag and the Self-Defense Forces naval ensign in 1954. Consequently, in many Asian countries, the Rising Sun Flag is perceived as a symbol that evokes militarism.
Comparison of Ideologies
Nazism (National Socialism) is an ideology within the fascist spectrum that centers on strong nationalism, authoritarianism, and racism, particularly anti-Semitism. Based on Pan-Germanism that emerged in Germany after World War I, Hitler and the Nazi Party sought to reorganize society through totalitarian control measures, including eugenic theories. After the war, it transformed into neo-Nazism, taking the form of far-right movements in various countries characterized by xenophobia, hatred of minorities, and violent methods.
Militarism is a mindset and system that prioritizes military power and war preparedness above all else in society, subordinating all areas—including politics, culture, and education—to military objectives. Originating in ancient Sparta and Rome, this ideology expanded in modern Japan through its fusion with nationalism and was used to justify the nation’s external expansion and colonial rule.
Eugenics refers to theories and policies aimed at “improving” humanity from a genetic perspective. Methods such as birth control, forced sterilization, racial policies, and genetic manipulation were proposed and implemented with the goal of encouraging the reproduction of groups with superior genes and suppressing the growth of groups classified as inferior. Based on this theory, Nazi Germany designated Jews, Roma, people with disabilities, and homosexuals as “unfit” and carried out systematic persecution and mass murder; similarly, the Japanese Empire committed human rights abuses—including the isolation of Hansen’s disease patients, forced sterilization, and human experimentation—under the pretext of “ethnic reform.”
Common Atrocities
Although Nazi Germany and Japanese militarism differed in ideology and objectives, they share commonalities in their violence and oppression against occupied territories and civilians, mass killings, human experimentation, and forced labor and conscription. These acts were crimes committed by disregarding human rights in order to achieve wartime objectives.
The Lidice massacre occurred in the Czech region in 1942 as retaliation for the assassination of a high-ranking Nazi official on the outskirts of Prague. Hundreds of SS troops raided the village, executing the men and sending the women and children to concentration camps, while the village was completely destroyed. This massacre is a prime example of how the occupying authorities’ policy of retaliation led to the slaughter of civilians.
The Gando Massacre refers to a series of incidents of looting, massacres, and arson perpetrated by Japanese troops in the early 1920s against Korean villages and social organizations in Manchuria and the Gando region, in response to defeats such as the Battle of Cheongsan-ri and to suppress the anti-Japanese independence movement. Some records indicate that thousands of civilians were killed, and the incident severely undermined the foundation of the local independence movement.
Human experimentation was a heinous crime committed in both countries. In Nazi Germany, Jews and other minorities were subjected to detailed medical and genetic experiments, and reports emerged of inhumane experiments such as genetic studies on twins and tests involving chemical weapons, extreme cold, and high pressure. There are also shocking accounts of the commodification of the human body, such as the use of human fat to make soap.
Japan’s Unit 731 carried out numerous inhumane experiments in China and surrounding regions. Reported experimental methods included performing surgeries without anesthesia, draining blood and injecting animal blood, amputating and transplanting body parts, observing the impact of explosions on living organisms, spreading infectious pathogens by introducing them into food, and conducting experiments involving extreme temperature changes—all of which were cruel and lethal. The subjects of these human experiments included not only Asians, such as Koreans and Chinese, but also people of other nationalities.
Forced Conscription and Labor Mobilization
Under their wartime regimes, Germany and Japan mobilized large numbers of people from their occupied territories. Germany carried out forced conscription in the Czech Republic, Poland, the Netherlands, France, the Balkans, the Baltic states, and Soviet-occupied territories, and also mobilized labor in North Africa, including Libya and Tunisia. Japan implemented conscription and forced labor across all its occupied territories, including Korea, Manchuria, Taiwan, China, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific.
The total number of conscripts from the Korean Peninsula is estimated to have reached approximately 260,000, including both the Army and Navy. In the case of the Army, approximately 62,000 were stationed within the Korean Peninsula, 43,000 in China, 20,000 on the Japanese home front, and 14,000 on the Southern Front; a significant number of troops and military personnel were also deployed to the former Manchuria region, the Philippines, and Myanmar. Some of these individuals were detained by the Soviet Union after the war and forced into labor, and there are various estimates regarding the number of casualties.
Reflections
The massacres and human experiments carried out in the name of national development or “reformation” are crimes that must never be repeated in human history. We must recognize that symbols and words from the past can still cause pain today, and adopt an attitude that does not trivialize symbols such as the Rising Sun Flag or the swastika. For example, just as I once pointed out the problem when I saw an item decorated with the Rising Sun motif while working abroad, small actions—such as not ignoring expressions that lack historical context—collectively help preserve social sensitivity. As the saying goes, “A nation that forgets its history has no future”; we must remember and educate about the mistakes of the past and remain vigilant to ensure they are not repeated.
