If Abe has his way, history would vanish

Japan has been looking over its shoulder since the United States said it was "disappointed that the Japanese leader has taken an action that will exacerbate tensions with Japan's neighbors". Japan took it as a "rare" statement and was shocked.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe paid his first official visit to Yasukuni Shrine, which honors 14 Class-A war criminals, on Dec 26. And instead of heeding to the strong protests from China and the Republic of Korea, the Abe administration has been busy trying to deal with the repercussions from the West, especially the US.

A team of bipartisan Japanese lawmakers, led by former foreign minister Hirofumi Nakasone, visited the US recently to convince American officials that Abe's visit to Yasukuni - as the Japanese prime minister put it - was an act designed to "promote peace". Japanese Vice-Foreign Minister Nobuo Kishi, Abe's younger brother, is on a visit to the US from Jan 13 to 17 to make American officials "understand" why Abe visited the shrine. The third team is expected to be led by Shotaro Yachi, head of secretariat of the Japanese version of the US National Security Council.