Apologize?

I was thinking about the recent Comfort Women resolution before the House of Representatives this morning, considering if Abe would apologize or not.

I don't think that is the point.



I then thought of this scene from "A Few Good Men." A bit longer, but as famous as "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn!"

Abe, and the Japanese government, is highly unlikely to apologize. But that doesn't have to happen for something positive to come out of this. Perhaps it is more like this scene.

By continuing to pound away at this and related issues, it can only be hoped that the curtain can be pulled aside, and the skeletons can be revealed. More importantly, through dialog among Japan, China, Korea, the United States, and others can common understandings be achieved. Only then can real trust be created.

The same holds true for Yasukuni. The more the shrine and Japan's conservatives attempt to define the shrine, the less of an appetite Japan's own people not to mention its allies will have for the beliefs that are not so secret, nor so well known outside Japan.

It is an issue that will not go away. When these dirty little nuggets of knowledge do bubble to the surface, Japan's MOFA and Japan handlers in the US sweep it under the rug in order to preserve the status quo. However, I see them more as a cancer - sometimes it flares up, but usually it is benign, but merely in remission. Cancer, however, can be either treated aggressively (in this case by airing the laundry) or the US-Japan alliance can constantly be put at risk for another flareup.