Japan better be careful

The Japanese Parliament recently passed a law upgrading the Defense Agency to a full ministry. This initiative is a bold move pushed by Prime Minister Abe and still he has further plans to patriotize the Japanese education curriculum. Japan is steadily moving away from its long time pacifist stand.

During World War II, imperial Japan has invaded and oppressed Korea, China and the rest of Southeast Asia. A very militaristic Japan was aggressive and hungry. This new Japan that is coming out is looking more and more hawkish.

Some proponents of the move have argued that Japan is merely taking up its role in the world's politics. Being the second biggest economy, Japan has a role to play in this very uncertain world.

This maybe true and I agree that Japan definitely has a role to play. The more powers playing geopolitics the better it is for small countries like us. The whole world will benefit with a more multilateral world as against the era of American lone hegemony.

However, Japan can still continue on its rise without rewriting history. One of the greatest weakness of Japan is its desire to keep on issuing construed versions of World War II. They keep on denying the Rape of Nanking and other atrocities they have done in their past imperial conquests.

It is said that victors write history but with Japan's newly revived economy and advanced military, they're now in a position to challenge that notion. Japan doesn't need the approval of its neighbors. It neither needs their money nor their protection. This is a difficult fix especially with an awaken China. Japan has just to thread this carefully.



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