US president's missing message in Japan

During his three-day visit to Japan from April 23 to 25, US President Barack Obama seems to be focusing on the US-Japan security alliance, the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations and the trilateral cooperation with Japan and South Korea. What has been missing is him raising a voice of concern over Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's views on World War II history.

Washington expressed its disappointment over Abe's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine on December 26, describing the action as "exacerbating tensions with Japan's neighbors". And US media, such as The Washington Post and The New York Times, have also repeatedly blasted Abe's historical views.

The Yasukuni Shrine honors 14 Class-A war criminals from WWII and has long been regarded as a symbol of Japanese militarism, which inflicted huge suffering on countries such as China, the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Philippines and several other Asian nations.