Japan: Opening Up Old Wounds

Almost nothing upsets the Chinese more than reminders of Japan’s brutal occupation of their country, which took an estimated 20 million lives, before and during World War II. Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone thus touched a tender nerve last August when he became the first postwar Prime Minister to make an official visit to the Yasukuni Shrine, a Shinto holy place in Tokyo honoring Japanese war dead, including convicted criminals like Wartime Prime Minister Hideki Tojo. The Chinese reacted with denunciations of a new Japanese “militarism,” and last month placard-waving students from Peking University mounted a protest demonstration.

Nakasone had planned a second official pilgrimage to Yasukuni. Last week, however, a government spokesman indicated that the visit would be canceled, possibly to ensure a cordial welcome for Japanese Foreign Minister Shintaro Abe, who arrived in Peking on Thursday for talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wu Xueqian. Counseled Wu at a welcoming dinner: “Please benefit from the lessons of history.”