Social Sciences
Reflecting the increasing dismay and exasperation of the Obama Administration with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the Editorial Board of the Washington Post on Saturday, April 26th hectored Abe about his retrogressive views of the Pacific War, Imperial Japan, and patriotism.
By Editorial Board, Published: April 26, 2013
FROM THE MOMENT last fall when Shinzo Abe reclaimed the office of Japanese prime minister that he had bungled away five years earlier, one question has stood out: Would he restrain his nationalist impulses ? and especially his historical revisionism ? to make progress for Japan?
Until this week, the answer to that question was looking positive. Mr. Abe has taken brave steps toward reforming Japan?s moribund economy. He defied powerful interest groups within his party, such as rice farmers, to join free-trade talks with the United States and other Pacific nations that have the potential to spur growth in Japan. He spoke in measured terms of his justifiable desire to increase defense spending.
This week he seemed willing to put all the progress at risk. Asked in parliament whether he would reconsider an official apology that Japan issued in 1995 for its colonization of Korea in the past century, Mr. Abe replied: ?The definition of what constitutes aggression has yet to be established in academia or in the international community. Things that happened between nations will look differently depending on which side you view them from.?
Officials in South Korea and China responded with fury, and understandably so. Yes, history is always being reinterpreted. But there are such things as facts. Japan occupied Korea. It occupied Manchuria and then the rest of China. It invaded Malaya. It committed aggression. Why, decades after Germany solidified its place in Europe by facing history honestly, are facts so difficult for some in Japan to acknowledge?
We understand that South Korea and, to an even greater extent, China at times stoke anti-Japan sentiment for domestic political purposes. China distorts its own history and, unlike Japan, in many cases does not allow conflicting interpretations to be debated or studied. But none of that excuses the kind of self-destructive revisionism into which Mr. Abe lapsed this week.
An inability to face history will prejudice the more reasonable goals to which South Korea and China also object. Mr. Abe has valid reasons, given the defense spending and assertive behavior of China and North Korea, to favor modernization of Japan?s defense forces. He has good reason to question whether Japan?s ?self-defense? constitution, imposed by U.S. occupiers after World War II, allows the nation to come to the aid of its allies in sufficient strength. But his ability to promote reform at home, where many voters remain skeptical, and to reassure suspicious neighbors plummets when he appears to entertain nostalgia for prewar empire.
- The Wall Street Journal, Of All Publications, Reprimands Abe
Abe at Ise Shrine January 5, 2015Abe?s New Year Resolution Honesty about World War II will bolster Japan?s standing in Asia. The Wall Street Journal, Editorial January 8, 2015 East Asia would benefit from improved relations between Japan and South Korea,...
- Japan Urged To Take Pride In Admitting To Troubled Past
On January 12th, Kyodo News interviewed APP member Columbia University Professor Gerald Curtis. He described Japan's ties with China and South Korea as "worrisome," with the "history issue" as an underlying factor. His advice was for Japan to...
- Using Belligerence To Forget
On April 8th, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter gave a speech to CSIS outlining American military capabilities and plans in the Indo-Pacific region. [TRANSCRIPT] He emphasized that "U.S. interests in the region are enduring, and...
- Japan's Cautious Hawks
In Japan's Cautious Hawks: Why Tokyo Is Unlikely to Pursue an Aggressive Foreign Policy published in the March/April 2013 issue of Foreign Affairs, APP member and Columbia University Professor Gerald L. Curtis argues...
- Japan-korean Relations
"With the help of Japan, China, and Manchukuo, the world can be at peace"On Friday afternoon, February 22, Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe gave a speech to a hand-selected crowd at CSIS in Washington. He is the grandson of Nobusuke Kishi who was an...
Social Sciences
Finally the Washington Post Speaks Out
| Prime Minister Abe |
Most important, this editorial signals a significant public shift of governmental attitudes toward Japan. American officials are now willing to point out Japan's historical revisionism as destabilizing to the region and insulting to Americans and Chinese alike. Expect more messages this coming Golden Week to Japan that these values and behaviors are unacceptable for an American ally. For example, appointments and pubic meetings with Japanese Cabinet members will be downgraded or canceled.
Confucius' lesson of the day: Men of totally different principles can never act together.
Shinzo Abe?s inability to face historyConfucius' lesson of the day: Men of totally different principles can never act together.
By Editorial Board, Published: April 26, 2013
FROM THE MOMENT last fall when Shinzo Abe reclaimed the office of Japanese prime minister that he had bungled away five years earlier, one question has stood out: Would he restrain his nationalist impulses ? and especially his historical revisionism ? to make progress for Japan?
Until this week, the answer to that question was looking positive. Mr. Abe has taken brave steps toward reforming Japan?s moribund economy. He defied powerful interest groups within his party, such as rice farmers, to join free-trade talks with the United States and other Pacific nations that have the potential to spur growth in Japan. He spoke in measured terms of his justifiable desire to increase defense spending.
This week he seemed willing to put all the progress at risk. Asked in parliament whether he would reconsider an official apology that Japan issued in 1995 for its colonization of Korea in the past century, Mr. Abe replied: ?The definition of what constitutes aggression has yet to be established in academia or in the international community. Things that happened between nations will look differently depending on which side you view them from.?
Officials in South Korea and China responded with fury, and understandably so. Yes, history is always being reinterpreted. But there are such things as facts. Japan occupied Korea. It occupied Manchuria and then the rest of China. It invaded Malaya. It committed aggression. Why, decades after Germany solidified its place in Europe by facing history honestly, are facts so difficult for some in Japan to acknowledge?
We understand that South Korea and, to an even greater extent, China at times stoke anti-Japan sentiment for domestic political purposes. China distorts its own history and, unlike Japan, in many cases does not allow conflicting interpretations to be debated or studied. But none of that excuses the kind of self-destructive revisionism into which Mr. Abe lapsed this week.
An inability to face history will prejudice the more reasonable goals to which South Korea and China also object. Mr. Abe has valid reasons, given the defense spending and assertive behavior of China and North Korea, to favor modernization of Japan?s defense forces. He has good reason to question whether Japan?s ?self-defense? constitution, imposed by U.S. occupiers after World War II, allows the nation to come to the aid of its allies in sufficient strength. But his ability to promote reform at home, where many voters remain skeptical, and to reassure suspicious neighbors plummets when he appears to entertain nostalgia for prewar empire.
- The Wall Street Journal, Of All Publications, Reprimands Abe
Abe at Ise Shrine January 5, 2015Abe?s New Year Resolution Honesty about World War II will bolster Japan?s standing in Asia. The Wall Street Journal, Editorial January 8, 2015 East Asia would benefit from improved relations between Japan and South Korea,...
- Japan Urged To Take Pride In Admitting To Troubled Past
On January 12th, Kyodo News interviewed APP member Columbia University Professor Gerald Curtis. He described Japan's ties with China and South Korea as "worrisome," with the "history issue" as an underlying factor. His advice was for Japan to...
- Using Belligerence To Forget
On April 8th, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter gave a speech to CSIS outlining American military capabilities and plans in the Indo-Pacific region. [TRANSCRIPT] He emphasized that "U.S. interests in the region are enduring, and...
- Japan's Cautious Hawks
In Japan's Cautious Hawks: Why Tokyo Is Unlikely to Pursue an Aggressive Foreign Policy published in the March/April 2013 issue of Foreign Affairs, APP member and Columbia University Professor Gerald L. Curtis argues...
- Japan-korean Relations
"With the help of Japan, China, and Manchukuo, the world can be at peace"On Friday afternoon, February 22, Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe gave a speech to a hand-selected crowd at CSIS in Washington. He is the grandson of Nobusuke Kishi who was an...