Pacifist Rim

I feel very concerned that Japanese PM Shinzo Abe is determined to reinterpret his country's pacifist constitution.  This liminal moment could have very serious consequences as, unlike Germany, Japan has never really had to come to terms with its actions in World War Two.  There are many top politicians who regard it as a war of self-defence.  Japanese school textbooks skirt around all the war crimes committed by their forces, if they mention them at all and this is mandated by law.  Propaganda aimed at young minds.
The USA and the Philippines (the latter the recipient of much Japanese donor aid) may want the Empire of Nippon to become more assertive in 'containing' China, but that may go too far in relation to the disputed Senkaku islands (I'm using the internationally accepted name).  Like Britain, as an archipelago Japan can be quite insular, but its elite have little conception how much they are hated by their near neighbours.  China and Korea (both of them) loathe Japan for its war crimes and its unwillingness to show remorse for them (Germans would never go to a war memorial site that included Nazi war criminals, if one existed), while Russia is irritated by Japanese provocation over the South Kurils.
There are many Japanese people of conscience who understand this and are opposed to Abe's aggressive move (bullying his Buddhist coalition partners by threatening to break up the coalition).  One man set himself on fire after denouncing the government.  Abe wants Japan to become a 'normal' country but first it must accept the enormity of what it did in the 1930s and 1940s.