Japan’s Abe has no will or desire to apologise for atrocities
Visit of defence minister to the Yasukuni shrine shows the Japanese government’s true sentiments
The sincerity of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit of reconciliation to Pearl Harbour was always in doubt; he made no apology for the attack 75 years ago, nor broached the atrocities his country’s imperial army committed in Asia and the Pacific. Instead, he chose to focus on the future, stressing as he stood beside outgoing US President Barack Obama Japan’s commitment to never again wage war. Ignoring the past at the place where 2,400 Americans were killed is insensitive, but in keeping with a refusal to acknowledge that wrongdoing occurred. His government’s true sentiments were evident the following day when Defence Minister Tomomi Inada, having just returned from the ceremony in Hawaii, went to the Yasukuni shrine to honour those who fought in the conflict.