Posted on: Thursday, April 14, 2005

EDITORIAL
Japan must convince neighbors of its intent

The people of Okinawa have carried a heavy burden as part of the U.S.-Japan security alliance.

A disproportionate two-thirds of U.S. troops based in Japan are on Okinawa, and a reduction in the U.S. footprint on this small, crowded island is long overdue.

So, it is welcome news that Japan and the United States are negotiating a military realignment that could move some or all of the nearly 20,000 Marines off Okinawa, close underused bases and meld an Army command in Washington state with a camp outside of Tokyo.

As the Associated Press reports, there is also an underlying U.S. strategy — an attempt to make Japan assume more of a role in global strategic operations.

For the most part, the U.S.-Japan alliance appears to work well for both sides. The United States provides security in Asia and has been credited with maintaining stability in the region. Japan pays the United States $5 billion in exchange. But, increasingly, there have been calls in Japan for changes.

Ideally, Japan, as a major player on the world stage, should become more involved in global strategic operations. But memories are long about Japan's militaristic past. The United States must tread cautiously and be sensitive to concerns raised by Japan's neighbors.

Indeed, Japan served up a powerful reminder this month by refueling the controversy over school textbooks that critics say provide a revisionist view of recent Japanese history.

Most of the criticism comes from South Korea, North Korea and China, countries with long memories of Japanese wartime atrocities.

In 2001, the Japanese Education Ministry approved a junior high school textbook that left out key details of the atrocities. Last week, a newer edition of the book was approved, a version critics say further distorts history and portrays Japan as a liberator and not an occupier of Asian neighbors. One key event, the 1937 Nanking Massacre in

China by the Japanese army, is left out, for example. Also, the "comfort women," a euphemism for wartime sex slaves, mostly from Korea, China and the Philippines, were ignored.

If the United States is serious about making Japan a major partner in global strategic operations, it cannot look the other way in this controversy. It must ensure that Japan is a responsible partner, acknowledging its past and issuing an appropriate apology.

Japan's Asian neighbors will likely always remain leery of its intentions. And Japan bears a heavy burden in convincing them otherwise. Trying to hide the past does no good in this effort. Unfortunately, it also makes it more difficult for the United States to ease its security burden in Asia.