No Day

Day 1,120, 13:10 Published in Japan Japan by TheMakoto

Do you know why Greeks celebrate October 28?

October 28 1940: it had been over one year into World War 2 and only 4 months ago the German war machinery had crushed France, ensuring total Axis hegemony on the European continent. Things looked grim.

On this October 28, Greece was handed an ultimatum by Fascist Italy. The Greek government was to allow the armed forces of Italy, which were allied to Germany, to occupy Greece and use the country for the war efforts against the Allied Powers or risk war at the hands of the Axis forces. A clear ultimatum. A clear choice. The facts spoke against Greece: faced with the most powerful military in existence at the time, defeat was all but certain would the country opt to resist. Realistically spoken, everything spoke for conceding to the Axis demands to at least retain a remnant of sovereignty.

Yet Greek Prime Minister Metaxas sent only a simple message in response to the threat by the Italian government:

"No."

At 5:30 am, Italian forces began to invade Greece, which ultimately ended in the subjugation of the country by fascist forces till the end of World War 2.

Today still, "No Day" is celebrated by Greeks as a sign of national pride and honorable defiance against all odds, as a sign that doing the right thing even while facing pain and hardship is possible.

On this day, December 14, Day 1120 of the New World, the Imperial Diet rejected the region swap with the government of South Korea, which has been taken hostage by hostile foreign elements. The Imperial Diet rejected having a safe transfer of regions that would have secured us peace and an economic benefit and instead opted to fight a war that we are currently hard-pressed to wage, having lost all battles of Chugoku thus far, the outcome is still uncertain. The enemy is at our door, so to say. Yet, refusing to make deals with a coercive and manipulative cabal, refusing to let our Korean brothers down, the Imperial Diet decided to embark on the way of honor and noble defiance in the face of a severe threat.

I leave it up to the politicians to decide whether this was a 'clever' move or not. But should this not be a reason to mark this December 14 as our very own No Day? A day that eJapan can be truly proud of.

Kokawayoshi Makoto
Emperor of Japan