Learning the lessons of history
The setback suffered by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party in Sunday's local election should be a warning to Japanese politicians trying to change the country's pacifist Constitution and expand the military's role. The LDP lost the vote to fill the open governor's post in Shiga prefecture in western Japan, which shows Abe's move to build a full-fledged military is against Japanese voters' wishes.
Abe's rightist policies have already strained Japan's relations with its neighbors, such as China and the Republic of Korea, so it's time he changed his mindset.
On July 7, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the Marco Polo Bridge, setting an example of remembering some of the darkest war crimes of the past century. The Marco Polo Bridge Incident (July 7, 1937) marks the beginning of China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
