The Japanese government is doubling down on its shameful campaign of historical revisionism. Last December, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japanese war criminals among other military leaders of the past. He did not apologize to the victims of Japanese colonialism and aggression that only ended with Japan’s defeat in World War II. Now Japan’s chief cabinet secretary has announced that Japan will revisit one of its rare post World War II apologies – its apology two decades ago to the hundreds of thousands of women forced into prostitution in Japanese wartime military brothels. The chief cabinet secretary announced a review of the historical evidence that had been relied upon in crafting the apology, known as the Kono Statement.
