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Editor's note
70 years ago, the inferno of war was finally put out after colossal losses to human civilization. 

We now enjoy peace, as well as prosperity that built on victory in the war. This year is an opportunity for the world to remember and reflect.

As close neighbors, China and Japan's history has been intertwined, mingling both mutual learning and battle.

The past century saw the most bitter memories of warfare but also magnanimity in peace.

However, while the mainstream calls for peace and cooperation, the right-wing camp in Japan has never stopped its pursuit of overturning the postwar consensus and political structure. Their efforts have increasingly driven the national policymaking process. [more]
Distorted tales confuse students
Young people alienated as Japanese textbooks move right

As the Japanese government pushes textbooks to reflect the government's stance over disputed history events, college professors are worried that these textbooks have made young people less aware of history than they should.
Harboring a dark past

Nagasaki Shipyard’s UNESCO status marred by forced labor

The exhibits and videos celebrated the Mitsubishi shipyard as the world’s most advanced manufacturing base at the time. What was not mentioned, however, was its history of forcing prisoners from neighboring China and Korea into slave labor.

An uncomfortable truth

Japan struggles to deal with legacy of comfort women system, compensation

“It has been twenty years since I first devoted myself to this issue. As a woman, I can feel the suffering that the victims experienced, and find this violation of women’s basic human rights unacceptable,” said Noriko Omori, a lawyer working on behalf of comfort women in World War II.

War criminal worship

Japan’s Yasukuni Shrine continues to ignore the history of WWII

All 14 class-A war criminals and more than 2,000 lower-class war criminals from WWII are still enshrined at Yasukuni in Japan for the public to pay their respects. The shrine said in a recent interview there were no war criminals, but people who have died for the country.

Neighborly relations
JCFA working to establish friendlier Sino-Japanese ties

“Just as everyone is curious to know everything that is going on with their neighbors, the Japanese are actually very interested in China,” Tokuichiro Utsunomiya, vice president of the Japan-China Friendship Association (JCFA), told the Global Times. “Even though sometimes their attention is focused on more negative aspects,” he added. 

A bold statement

Japan’s former prime minister discusses Abe’s upcoming WWII address

As Shinzo Abe is expected to address the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII later this month, former prime minister Tomiichi Murayama said it will be a shame if his speech denies history, because that’s the same as the Japanese government telling lies, which will damage Japan’s credibility.

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