Abe bow 70th anniversary Ma Ping/ZumaPress

Accepting Japan at Its Word

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's statement to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII will follow a long line of declarations by Japanese leaders expressing sincere remorse for their country's past behavior. It is time for the rest of Asia's leaders to recognize that forgiveness would benefit everyone.

TOKYO – In recent years, the number of tourists visiting Japan has been increasing rapidly, reaching a record 13.4 million last year, a 29% increase from 2013. Japan seems to be making great strides toward its goal of recapturing the position as an Asian cultural center that it held a century ago, when the Indian Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore lived in Tokyo. Chinese revolutionary leaders Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek, along with many other prominent Asians, moved there as well.

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