Interestingly, some countries don’t hate Japan despite a pretty rough history with them. Taiwan, for example, is generally quite positive about Japan, and I’ve even met some elders who say Taiwan improved under the Japanese.
I’m not sure that’s completely true, but some people definitely believe it. I think Vietnam and Indonesia also have pretty positive relations with Japan. But China and Korea absolutely despise them, and I’m not sure about the Philippines, but they have enough reasons to hate them, too.
I’m no scholar, but I’m certainly a regular consumer of Japanese culture and content as much as the next nerd. This sentiment by China and Korea makes me wonder whether there’s any remaining vestiges of Japanese culture and mindset that are actually worthy of their concern, or if their bias is 100% rooted in historical events.