Don't mention the war! I mentioned it once but I think I got away with it.

I have a friend here in Bloomington who is Japanese. I managed not to mention the war when I saw her on Rememberance Day last year, partly because my mind was more on Rememberance Day 1975 (but it did take some effort to refrain!). After I got through that one without even a hint I thought I was doing pretty well but then last night she brought it up...

German: "Will you stop mentioning the war?"
Basil: "You started it."
German: "We did not start it."
Basil: "Yes you did, you invaded Poland!"

...Last night my friend was telling me about a war movie she'd seen, set on a WWII Japanese battleship. Of course I had heard that Japanese people don't like to talk about past nastiness and, consequently, that young people are largely ignorant of how WWII was played out before Hiroshima. But she was telling me how she cares about remembering wars etc so I was a little surprised by the remark, "Australia's never been involved in a war, has it?"! I really wasn't going to say anything until then and I think I was quite diplomatic in my explanation. I said that Australia has never been invaded (not since the British invasion and conquest of the Aboriginal nations) but had to mention that Darwin had been bombed and that midget-subs sunk the Kuttabul in Sydney Harbour, striking fear into the hearts of all Australians. There was much covering-of-mouth-with-hand, especially when I observed that our grandfathers were trying to kill each other in Borneo.

But for all that I think I was quite restrained. I didn't even hint at the conditions of PoW camps; I don't imagine that that conversation could be pleasant to have with anyone you want to keep as a friend. Hopefully she understood that my "grandfathers trying to kill each other" remark was meant as a contrast to our friendship, to show how much better it is for nations to be at peace.