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The unbearable lightness of Japanese leaders` lips

Posted May. 16, 2013 03:14,   

한국어

Some Japanese political leaders lacking awareness of the history of Japan’s invasion of its neighbors are crossing the line in their outrageousness.

During a visit to a base of Japan’s Air Self Defense Force on Sunday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe posed inside a training jet plane numbered 731, holding a thumb up. The notorious “Maruta” unit, a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that used living prisoners of war for human experimentation, was called Unit 731. The United States also criticized the Japanese prime minister, saying that his photo-op was equivalent to German Chancellor Angela Merkel wearing a Nazi Schutzstaffel uniform for fun.

Recently, Abe wore a baseball jersey with the number 96 when he threw the first ball for a Yomiuri Giants baseball game. This shows his determination to revise Article 96 of the Japanese constitution, which requires two-thirds votes of both chambers of the Japanese parliament, to amend the peace constitution. Both instances were part of Abe’s calculated “number politics.”

Toru Hashimoto, Osaka mayor and co-leader of the Japan Restoration Party, went a step further. He said that the “comfort women,” who were forced to become sex slaves for Japanese troops during World War II, was a “necessary” system. At a meeting with the commander of the U.S. forces stationed in Japan, he said that troops should use prostitution to “control their sexual energy.” He does not even balk at arguing that Japan is not responsible for the sex slavery issue, one of the worst cases of human rights violation. No conscience can be found in his view that identifies forced sex slaves with voluntary prostitutes.

Amid the controversies, the Abe cabinet has sent a special envoy to Pyongyang. At a time when the international community is joining forces to impose sanctions on North Korea, Japan has poured cold water to the international cooperation. Tokyo may resort to the excuse that it had to do so to solve the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by Pyongyang. However, sending a special envoy without notifying Seoul and Washington cannot be seen anything other than Tokyo’s intention to undermine South Korea-U.S. cooperation. It would be a shameful idea if Japan is trying to take diplomatic advantage of North Korea’s isolation.

Based on high approval rates of over 70 percent, Abe is fanning Japan’s turn to the right in an attempt to win in the July parliamentary elections. Japanese citizens and politicians should take seriously the concerns of the international community that the humankind’s universal conscience is losing ground in Japan amid right-wing nationalism.