Japan's soul-searching over its wartime crimes lags far behind Germany's

German Chancellor Angela Merkel laid a wreath at the grave of the Unknown Soldier, close to the Kremlin on May 10. Along with other Western leaders, she skipped the military parade in Red Square marking the 70th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in protest over Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula and its role in eastern Ukraine.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to follow the example of Merkel.

China has invited Abe, among other world leaders, to the events in Beijing on Sept 3 to observe the 70th anniversary of its victory over the Imperial Japanese army.