I don't see why every country would have to change their symbol.
Yes, all countries have guilt in their pasts, as do all people, but Imperial Japan was a fascist regime that killed 50 million often with horrific brutality. And let's remember, it's just a war flag, you can change it with the stroke of a pen. The flag won't care. The Self Defense Forces won't start to suck, and the neighbors will have one less reason to think of Japan as an enemy, a real boost to national defense. You might not understand the depth of animus in the region against Japan -- schoolchildren are taught to despise it because of the fascist empire, and the Rising Sun Flag is shown as an analog to the Nazi swastika. Completely unlike Germans, Japanese are portrayed as at best ignorant of the dark side of their own nation's history, and flying a flag that on sight causes more than a billion people to swell with rage because they connect it to Japan's fascist past does nothing to dispel that notion. Fret not, the neighbors also choose to forget the dark sides of their pasts. Yet they must all live together, in an environment that feels like it mixes 21st century technology with late 19th century nationalism.
I love Japan. I've been visiting five or six times a year for quite a while. I flew in naval exercises alongside the Maritime Self Defense Forces. I enjoy Japanese curry. You should really try curry soup in Sapporo, it's fantastic. I could happily live in Japan for the rest of my days. I'd still be happy if they changed the damn counter-productive war flag.
I feel like the people who would be upset about the flag would also be the same people who wouldn’t be satisfied by merely a flag change. They’d say “so what if you just changed your flag? Now change the history curriculum in high school”. And they wouldn’t stop there either, they’d ask for further changes because it’s never enough. “ Why haven’t you demolished the Yasukuni shrine yet?”
I’m _not_ saying that a country that committed crimes in the past shouldn’t have to atone for that by making changes. Germany did this much better than Japan. All I’m saying is that there will be people in the country who will oppose kowtowing to requests like the one you’ve made because they think it’s impossible to satisfy people who make such requests.
I love Japan. I've been visiting five or six times a year for quite a while. I flew in naval exercises alongside the Maritime Self Defense Forces. I enjoy Japanese curry. You should really try curry soup in Sapporo, it's fantastic. I could happily live in Japan for the rest of my days. I'd still be happy if they changed the damn counter-productive war flag.