“Japan’s largest warship since World War II went into service Wednesday, bolstering the nation’s maritime defense capabilities at a time when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration is preparing security legislation to expand the scope of Japan’s military activities.”
“The U.S. government, Congress and academics have a very “solid” consensus that Japan should stop its attempts to gloss over its wartime wrongdoings, namely the issue of sex slavery, the South Korean ambassador to Washington said Thursday.”
“2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, but, in some ways, the epochal conflict is far from over. A host of commemorations are opening up old wounds in parts of the world, or have become staging grounds for current…
“According to a Japanese government source, China has asked the Prime Minister of Japan to participate in events that mark Japan’s military defeat. The Japanese leaders “cautious in evaluating the request. ” Signs of detente between the countries following foreign…
“Members of an expert panel on the war anniversary statement to be issued this summer by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had a heated debate about whether Japan committed wartime “aggression,” according to a summary of their discussion.” Click here for…
By Nippon’s Editor in Chief, Kawashima Shin: “We in Japan see our country’s seven-decade postwar period as having begun on August 15, 1945. But China focuses on September 3 as its V-J day, while Taiwan has celebrated October 25 as…
“Chinese Embassy officials in the United States went on a phone call frenzy in November to present their spin on a planned joint statement agreed upon just hours earlier concerning Japan-China relations.”
“If the South Korea-China-Japan Summit is held this year that marks the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, the summit would provide a positive momentum for the three nations to put an end to the historical disputes…
“China apparently used the recent trilateral foreign ministers’ meeting as an opportunity to pressure Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to exercise restraint in the phrasing of his forthcoming statement to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II,…
“In advance of a visit to Washington by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, U.S. lawmakers are pushing Japan to set straight its approach to wartime history, which has frozen relations with neighboring Asian countries.”
“Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been formally invited to address a joint session of Congress when he travels to Washington DC this April, AFP reports.”
‘Comfort women’ issue a controversy in Canada too: “Tina Rafferty, a Japanese-Canadian resident, spoke with the NOW about the statue. ‘This proposal is against the Canadian tradition of multiculturalism,’ she said. ‘This is a country where people come from all…
“Finally, while this may not be a popular topic within the Japanese government, the most productive long-term investment for Japan could be an investment in improving its relations with Korea and China. Public diplomacy programs that foster cultural exchanges among…
“The Japan-South Korea rift has complicated U.S. efforts to forge a stronger security alliance against common foe North Korea and to U.S. strategy aimed at countering China’s rise. Japan and South Korea host 80,000 U.S. troops, the backbone of America’s…
“An organization for former U.S. prisoners of the Japanese and a Korean-American forum say Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should only be invited to address the U.S. Congress during an expected visit if he acknowledges Japan’s World War Two past.”
“China’s foreign ministry has reproached the Japanese government for displaying a 1969 Chinese map of the Senkaku Islands that identifies the disputed territory by its Japanese name.”
“The Foreign Ministry has published on its website a map released by a Chinese government organ in 1969 calling the disputed Senkaku Islands by their Japanese name.”
“China’s air force needs better central control to avoid miscalculations as territorial tensions rise with Japan over the East China Sea, according to Australia’s air force chief.”
“For Abe and his revisionist clique of likeminded ministers, lawmakers and bureaucrats, it’s high time the severity of the situation is realized and all childish gamesmanship ceased, for the future good of the nation, stability in the region and reputation…
“‘Why would he need to change the words? That is why people have doubts,’ said the 78-year-old Kono. ‘He must erase those doubts and the simplest way to do so is to uphold the Murayama statement unchanged…’ Kono also said he…
A few voices the younger generations should listen to, remember, and pass on: “We old people are puny in influence. But we can not let the Abe administration do whatever it wants to do… I believe in a Chinese saying that…
“Rediscovered film shows attacks by US aircraft on Japanese warships, factories and military installations in dying days of WWII”
The Musashi in brief, by Reiji Yoshida: What was the Musashi? Why were such mammoth battleships planned in the first place? Did the Musashi and Yamato contribute greatly to Japan’s war effort?
“Japan is building up its military forces and strengthening alliances to counter threats from China as the country emerges from decades of isolationism following its defeat in World War II.”