u/Diligent-Balance-937

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This might sound weirdly specific, but I've been thinking about this a lot.

I sometimes get strangely bothered when two people are clearly doing almost everything you'd associate with a romantic relationship—constant emotional intimacy, prioritizing each other, going on dates, jealousy, romantic tension, etc.—but then describe themselves as “just friends” because they don't want a label.

And I want to clarify: I'm not judging people who prefer casual or undefined relationships. If that works for them, that's completely fine.

What bothers me is specifically the use of the word “friendship.”

I feel like friendship is something beautiful and meaningful on its own. A friend isn't someone you're “almost dating” or someone who becomes a romantic partner if the circumstances change. Friendship has its own kind of intimacy, loyalty, affection and connection that isn't necessarily romantic.

So when people describe what is essentially a romantic/ambiguous relationship as “just friendship,” it almost feels like they're reducing friendship to “a relationship without the romantic label.”

Maybe I'm overthinking the meaning of the word, but for me, friendship isn't a consolation prize for not being in a relationship. It's its own kind of relationship, and honestly, one of the purest ones.

I'm curious what other people think.

Does anyone else feel this way, or do you think “friends” can reasonably describe a relationship like this?

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I’ve recently been learning more about Imperial Japan’s actions in China and Korea during the first half of the 20th century, including the Nanjing Massacre and the suffering of people under Japanese occupation.

It honestly surprised me how little I had learned about these events compared with Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. In school and in mainstream discussions, Hitler and Nazi Germany seem to receive vastly more attention, while Japan’s wartime atrocities are often mentioned only briefly.

Why is that? Is it mainly because of differences in school curricula, Western historical perspectives, postwar politics, or something else?

I’m genuinely asking because I’d like to understand why these parts of WWII history seem less prominent in what many of us are taught. Also, for people who grew up in China, Korea, Japan, or elsewhere in Asia, was this history taught more extensively in your schools?