For most of the people around the world, history is about objective facts of the past. However, for a handful of right-wing Japanese politicians, it is not.[Special coverage]
With witnesses speaking out and wartime victims and their families demanding apologies, right-wing politicians are flagrantly trying to distort the truth and whitewash the country's aggressive past and atrocities during World War II.
Evidence indicates that Japan has waged a "holy war" on historical issues, glossing over its aggression. This has been likened to the "holy war" Japanese militarists believed they were fighting in the name of "Greater East Asia" during WWII.
This Saturday marks the 70th anniversary of Japan's announcement of unconditional surrender following WWII.
Like his predecessors, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to issue a statement around the anniversary. However, just like in 1937 when speculation abounded as to whether Japan would launch a full-scale invasion into China, the current prime minister's upcoming statement is also shrouded in uncertainty.
BETRAYAL OF HISTORY
Conjecture surrounding the content of Abe's statement and whether it will touch on the topics "colonial rule", "aggression" or "apology", and whether the statement will be official or personal.
Such wording appeared in a landmark statement by former prime minister Tomiichi Murayama, on Aug. 15, 1995 on the 50th anniversary of the end of the war. Its content was repeated by his successor, Junichiro Koizumi, in 2005 on the 60th anniversary. Both statements were endorsed unanimously by the cabinet.
The incumbent prime minister, however, is reportedly planning to deviate from tradition and there is talk of the date of the address changing, the absence of key wording and it being personal rather than in his capacity as prime minister.
According to Japanese media, Abe's statement will express "remorse" for Japan's wartime actions, stress its pursuit of peace in the postwar era and depict a nation looking to the future. The focus of the statement will be the latter two parts while the "remorse" section may be toned down.
Former prime minister Morihiro Hosokawa, who has during his tenure unequivocally admitted to Japan's wartime crimes, said in an interview with Tokyo Shimbun that any statement that undermines the spirit of Murayama and Koizumi's statements will be detrimental.
Abe has personally visited or made ritual offerings to the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan's war dead including 14 Class-A convicted WWII criminals, disavowed a universal definition for "aggression" and made remarks denying the Nanjing Massacre and the practice of wartime sexual servitude. These actions have failed to convince the world that his cabinet accepts responsibility.
His right-wing path is also followed by his cabinet.
