“A majority of people surveyed think Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should express regret and apologize for Japan’s colonial rule and aggression when he marks the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, a Kyodo News poll found Sunday……
“Tezuka (1928-1989) experienced a large-scale air raid in Osaka when he was working at a factory as a member of the students labor corps and was running about to escape dropping firebombs. On the night of Aug. 15, 1945, after…
“The passage of time is supposed to dull even the most vicious hatreds. One of the most disturbing trends in recent geopolitics is that, instead, it seems to be sharpening them…”
“”Historians may record March 2015 as the moment when China’s checkbook diplomacy came of age,” said Paul Taylor and William James at Reuters. Beijing has spent several years trying to persuade Western nations to join its Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB),…
“Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe has reportedly said that he rejected China’s invitation because accepting it would mean Japan is submitting its soverignty to a former enemy. Reports said Abe did not accept the invitation because Japan will feel uneasy about…
“Rather than displaying China’s latest military technologies, as the National Day parades do, this parade will have a different focus: promoting an image of China’s military forces as peacekeepers. “The world will see the PLA as important force of promoting…
“Japan’s military is prying open long-closed doors at university research labs, boosting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s US-backed effort to cast off some of the country’s pacifist constraints, write Eric Pfanner and Chieko Tsuneoka for The Wall Street Journal.”
“Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he holds the “fullest confidence” in President Obama and the U.S.-Japan alliance remains “unshakable,” providing a prelude to his state visit to Washington in April.”
“The world should be increasingly vigilant to the wily Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his moves towards historical revisionism, as his expert panel set up by the government here on his war anniversary statement is nothing but a smoke…
“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.”
“Five years on from the explosion that killed 46 sailors — almost half the crew — and led to increased border defence by both sides, the sinking is reigniting tensions between South Korea and its reclusive, nuclear-armed neighbor. North Korea…
“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…
“Now, after more than a decade in limbo, the film, “Spirits’ Homecoming,” will continue filming next month. Mr. Cho, who has made two feature films and about 200 commercials, documentaries, music videos and short films, plans to release it by…
“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…
“Our generation, people over 60, often heard of Guadalcanal,” said Nakagawa Harumi from Nagoya who had the seat next to mine in our minibus. He placed his hand over his chest and continued in careful English, “Just being here, I…
“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,…
“The US may want to edge Australia into a trilateral arrangement to support Japan in any showdown with China. Of course, this may not be a considered US strategy, or a particularly high priority. It should nonetheless be a goal…
“A bipartisan group of influential U.S. senators has called on the government to draw up a strategy aimed at halting China’s “unilateral” acts to assert control over disputed islands in the South China Sea, including land reclamation projects.”
“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.”