Coming to terms with its past.

Japan is a country haunted by its history. Despite decades of good trade and political relations, shared popular culture, and extensive foreign aid to neighboring countries, many of its neighbors still resent Japan's actions during World War II. Beyond apologies, there is much that needs to be done to assure not only peace in East Asia, but also that Japan's goodwill of recent decades is not tainted by its past mistakes.

One such example of what needs changing involves the textbook issue. How a nation educates its youth about its own and others' historical acts creates generations of people with potentially inaccurate or biased perceptions of actual events. Many nations feel Japan's whitewashing of its past history of aggression sets the stage for future actions of a similar nature. With Japan currently vying for a seat on the UN Security Council, many reasonably fear that a forgotten past could quickly become a repeated past.

A similar problem exists on the side of Japan's neighbors. Museums that insufficiently distinguish between past conflict and current amicable relations disinhibit violence among generations of citizens. Such institutions perpetuate the dangerous resentment between Japanese, Koreans, and Chinese of the last hundred years and more, creating instability and hatred where there can be enduring peace and cooperation.  Details...