Japan should follow the example of Germany and face up to history instead of trying to hide it behind a cloak of ambiguity

Japanese people can be surprisingly vague when stating their opinions. This can be seen either as a practical way to handle difficult topics without offending the other person or a way of avoiding humiliation.

Questioned on his attitude toward Japan's past, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is trying to be ambiguous by employing aimai, literally a doubled-edged approach.

He complains that part of Japan's history has been made a diplomatic issue, willfully ignoring the fact that Japan's militaristic past has become a diplomatic issue because Japan has made it an issue, and claims that Japan's historical baggage has been forced on it by neighboring countries.

While his predecessors, such as Yasuhiro Nakasone and even Junichiro Koizumi, acknowledged Japan's wartime excesses, and former Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama apologized in a statement for Japan's wartime atrocities in 1995, Abe refuses to clarify his position on Japan's past aggression against its Asian neighbors and its colonization of the Korean Peninsula, claiming a definition of aggression has "yet to be established". He respects the spirit of the war dead who gave their lives for Japan, and feels no compunction about worshiping at the Yasukuni Shrine, which commemorates Japan's convicted war criminals among the war dead.

In October 1945, Tanzan Ishibashi, the second leader of the Liberal Democratic Party and prime minister from 1965 to 1966, made the visionary proposal to abolish the Yasukuni Shrine. He believed that the difficult international situation Japan was in after its defeat in its so-called Greater East Asia War had made it impossible to worship the war dead as heroes. He warned that worshiping there would cause Japan the ultimate humiliation and damage if it continued.

"Japanese politicians still do not understand the difficult international situation the country is in today," said Tetsuya Takahashi, professor of philosophy at the University of Tokyo.

As Richard von Weizscker, former president of the Federal Republic of Germany, put it, people need to know how they stand in relation to the past, in order not to be led astray in the present.

Japan and Germany shared similar experiences after World War II as they were subject to the post-war occupation policies of the Allied powers. But the sense of national guilt that was evident in Germany was not experienced in Japan. German citizens collectively acknowledged their responsibilities, while the majority of Japanese tend to think that there were two wars: one among the imperialist powers and the other against Asian-Pacific countries. This has enabled Japanese politicians to adopt aimai in their remarks on Japan's actions in the WWII.

At the 50th anniversary of the end of the World War II in 1995, reconciliation between victor and vanquished was intentionally displayed. The top leaders of more than 50 former belligerent countries including the United States, Britain, France, Russia and Germany gathered to attend the official ceremonies that were held in London, Paris, Berlin and Moscow on May 7 to 9, 1995. Former US vice-president Al Gore praised the "profoundly new relationship between victor and vanquished" that now binds Germany to its neighbors.

In contrast with the commemorations in Europe, which emphasized embracing multinational memories of the war, the official ceremonies held in the Asia-Pacific were characterized by national boundaries. Japan observed the anniversary with a ceremony attended by the emperor, the top leaders of the government, the Diet and the Supreme Court. Other East Asian nations held separate official ceremonies to celebrate their liberation from Japanese military domination.

Abe and his administration refuse to take any steps toward reconciling Japan with its neighbors. Instead, their attitude and words continue to widen the chasm between Japan and other countries in East Asia. South Korean President Park Geun-hye was reluctant to talk with Abe on the sidelines of a leaders' meeting of the Group of 20 economies in Russia in September, because of Abe's stance toward the crimes committed by Japanese military during the colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula before and during WWII, and a territorial dispute between the two countries. Park has urged Japan to create an atmosphere conducive for a summit with Abe.

Japan needs to reflect on how Germany has freed itself of its wartime baggage rather than claiming its neighbors have loaded the baggage on it.

New Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi reminded Abe on Sunday that he should consider Japan's relations with China and South Korea when he draws up his schedule for Aug 15, the anniversary of Japan's surrender in the WWII. Yamaguchi was dropping a hint that Abe should not visit the Yasukuni Shrine.

In an interview with a Japanese magazine, Yohei Kono, former LDP leader with his name on a landmark 1993 apology over Japan's use of wartime sex slaves, asked Abe to state his position on the Yasukuni Shrine before the July 21 upper house election.

It is time for the Abe administration to clean its own house.

The author is China Daily's Tokyo bureau chief. caihong@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 07/17/2013 page11)