Enough of Abe's politics; Japan needs to lift its economic game
Hiroshima in August is almost hot enough to fry an egg on the pavement, and the air is stifling. Seventy years ago on August 6 at 8.15am, Hiroshima's air became unbreathable as the US Boeing B-29 Superfortress aircraft Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb on a city, raising temperatures to 3,000 degrees Celsius.
Those close to the hypocentre were vaporised, and tens of thousands more lived in pain and suffering for months, years, decades. "I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds," said J. Robert Oppenheimer, father of the atomic bomb, quoting from the Bhagavad Gita.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has another few days to reflect on war and peace before his address commemorating the 70th anniversary of Japan's defeat and surrender nine days after the first atomic atrocity. He has a wonderful opportunity to set a new path for Japan, for Asia and the world. I fear that he will continue to bulldoze a wrong and dangerous road.
It seems to matter little to Abe that most of the Japanese people are against what he is doing
Soon after Abe returned to power, one of the prime minister's close advisers told me Abe had two inner demons wrestling for his heart and soul: the good fairy wants him to concentrate on restoring peace-loving Japan's economic vitality; the other is the spirit of his grandfather Nobusuke Kishi, a key member of Japan's wartime government, beckoning him to rewrite history and restore the country's political standing, as he sees it.
Sadly, the good fairy is losing. Late last year, Abe called early general elections, claiming that he needed the mandate to consolidate his so-called Abenomics to lift the faltering economy. Since then, Abenomics has hardly figured on Abe's agenda as he has devoted his energy to his grandfather's quest of making Japan a "normal country".
Political discussions and media reports circle endlessly round which words Abe will use for the 70th anniversary and whether he will formally apologise.
Abe's core supporters in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party are demanding that he stand up against foreign pressure and "restore Japan's honour and trust". In particular, they bitterly complain about the apology that then chief cabinet secretary Yohei Kono offered in 1993 to the sex slaves.