I think this is a question of opposition and unity, and my answer is: The Japanese people are part of Japanese imperialism, strong supporters of Japanese militarist action, enjoying the economic dividends plundered by Japanese imperialism, and in the end they suffered collateral damage because of the fall of Japanese imperialism.
The relationship between a country and the people is inseparable, whether it is an imperialist country or any other country, and "Japanese imperialism" is not a verbal fictitious title, it is really composed of hundreds of millions of Japanese people.
Therefore, we cannot sever the connection between "imperialism" and the "Japanese people" at all, they are all one thing, so why should we have to look at them in two situations?
The Japanese Empire became rich and strong through the Meiji Restoration, and then began to plunder and kill its neighbors, and which Japanese people did not enjoy the benefits of this bloody road step by step? If Japan's restoration had not been successful, let alone defeated China in the Sino-Japanese War, what good would it have received? How the Qing Dynasty was divided up by the imperialist frenzy, Japan would be divided up.
It is precisely because Japan has completed its modernization and realized its transformation from a feudal country to a modern imperialist country that the Japanese people have a good life, and through their participation in plundering China, they have obtained sky-high reparations, used it to develop their own education, enriched the non-governmental economy, and raised social civilization, population quality, and commodity economy to several levels. What is the attitude of the "Japanese people" towards this imperialist act of plunder?
In fact, the Japanese people will only have one attitude, they are ecstatic to sing the praises of "Sakagami No Cloud", greet their golden age, watch the society around them develop as rapidly as a rocket ascension, and quickly turn "Japan", a poor Far East Island country, into a world power that can compete with the European powers.
What else is there to say about this? The "Japanese people" are full of national pride, and their hearts are full of the grandeur of the Yamato nation leading the whole of Asia. Compared with the semi-colonial China at that time, which was not as good as shit, the Japanese enjoyed a beautiful and developed era through imperialist acts.
Therefore, by the time of World War II, the Japanese had completely transformed themselves into militaristic ghosts like beasts that had eaten human flesh, with blood-red eyes. The Japanese people's economy is not working? Grab next door! The Japanese people don't have much land? Grab next door! The Japanese people don't want to live on a small island anymore? Grab the next door!
Isn't this what Japanese imperialism really is like? It is nothing more than a concentrated expression of the will of the Japanese people. When Japanese imperialism triumphed, they rejoiced; when Japanese imperialism failed, they were devastated; and when the edifice of Japanese imperialism was about to collapse, they threw themselves into the sea of fire that supported this collapse without hesitation.
Only when the fight is lost, and it is completely finished, will they cunningly draw a watershed, and the people will blame the empire that no longer exists, and then sit on the bed of the "victim" and begin to cry out to the sky that they have been pitted. With a cry worse than the real victims, he almost pounced on the fighters who had defeated the fascists, scolding them for slaughtering the poor citizens of the Empire of Japan in a frenzy.
Therefore, even today, do not talk about the passage of time, what continues to open up, what forgets hatred, before the ghost of Japanese militarism has completely dissipated, any talk of "goodwill" and "fraternity" is inappropriate, because that powerful ghost is hidden among the Japanese people, and sooner or later it will return the soul and bite you again!