You don’t have to live in Japan to favor them. Living in Asia and having an interest in Asia in general coupled with being a contrarian could certainly cloud judgement.
I would argue that the Japanese get off lightly for not only their war crimes towards civilians but also for what they did to enemy POWs. And it’s not just japan and China. It’s Japan and Korea. It about japan and any of its conquests.
I don’t see how arguing that the Germans were efficient in their killing makes them more “evil”, either. They targeted a certain group and were unfortunately good at it. To me, who was a terror to anyone in their way? Juxtapose occupied France vs occupied China or Korea. Juxtapose being a POW of Germany or japan. What’s the difference?