Commentary: Fixing distorted view of history, reflecting on past only way for Japan to avoid future mistakes

History is a mirror to the future. If Japan continues to view its war-time past distorted and whitewashed by rightwing revisionists without earnest reflection and repentance, it will have a precarious future in which "horrors of war" could be repeated.

Aug. 15 marks the day when Japan unconditionally surrendered in World War II, bringing an end to the war, the deadliest conflict in human history that witnessed the loss of about 70 million lives.

When Japan marked the 70th anniversary of its unconditional surrender in World War II last year, Japanese Emperor Akihito unprecedentedly expressed his "deep remorse" over the past war at a national memorial service but Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, however, in a closely-watched statement failed to make a full, direct apology.

In the statement, Abe shied away from assuming responsibility for Japan's war-time aggression, and attempted to play down its war crimes by saying that Japan tried to "overcome its diplomatic and economic deadlock through the use of force."

Moreover, Abe went on to say that it was unnecessary for the Japanese young people to keep apologizing in the future, exposing once again his reluctance to face up to history, thus delivering a dangerous message to the younger generations.

Though vowing not to repeat the horrors of war at the ceremony this year, Abe failed once again to mention Japan's war-time aggression in Asia and to make an apology.

The Japanese revisionists have attempted to deny and hide the true history of Japan in the first half of the 20th century from the public as it was an infamous one in which Japan launched aggressive wars against other nations and committed numerous atrocities.

In March, the Japanese education ministry revised some junior high school history textbook passages regarding Japan's WWII barbarities. In a passage on the Nanjing Massacre, for example, the original statement that the Japanese army "killed many captives and civilians" was watered down to read as "captives and civilians were involved" in the tragedy and "casualties were exposed."

Earlier this year, the Japanese government once again intervened into the authorization of high school text books in an attempt to ensure its revisionist stance on historical and territorial issues is upheld.

While the Japanese revisionists complain about the humiliation and fatigue of making apologies, what they fail to note, however, is that apologizing is necessary not only in the moral sense, but also shows a country's determination to make right the old wrongs and to never repeat the same mistakes.

They should be cognizant of the fact that it is only by facing up to the past that they can look forward to a meaningful peaceful future.

Japan is now craving to become a "normal country". However, by refusing to recognize its history and not learning from the past, Japan's leadership could steer the country down to a dangerous path, farther away from its goal of being "normal."

Japanese citizens and its neighbors are now becoming increasingly concerned over the direction Japan is now heading in, especially at a time when the newly-enacted security laws have enabled Japan's Self-Defense Forces to fight wars overseas and Japan's postwar pacifist Constitution is also in serious jeopardy.

What's more, Japan, using the groundless "China threat" as an excuse, has also been strengthening its military capabilities, in addition to muddying the waters in the region by selling weapons to other countries and meddling in the South China Sea dispute.

Pandora's Box was opened even earlier than that as Japan unilaterally "nationalized" China's Diaoyu Islands in 2012, a move that changed the then "status quo" and chilled Japan's relationship with China.

It's in the interests of both Japan and its neighboring countries for the former military power to truly reflect upon its past wrongs and to learn a valuable and lasting lesson.

While Japan commemorates its war dead, including those killed in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it's also important for the nation to reflect upon the real cause of the lost lives, and how to avoid similar tragedies.

Japan is also trying to bring forth a trilateral summit with China and South Korea, two of its closest neighbors as well as victims before and during WWII. To make this happen, Japan should demonstrate its sincerity in word and deed. Endit