Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma recently got himself into trouble by saying the 1945 U.S. atomic bombings of Japan toward the end of World War II "couldn't be helped." He made the gaffe ahead of the Aug. 6 anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Kyuma was forced to resign, despite Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's efforts to defend him.
This episode was in sharp contrast to an earlier furor over the education ministry's orders to Japanese high school textbook publishers that they delete passages stating that the Japanese military had coerced civilians into committing suicides en masse during the Battle of Okinawa. All local assemblies in Okinawa, including the prefectural assembly, have adopted resolutions demanding that the ministry retract the orders. For his part, the education minister has evaded responsibility by passing the buck to the textbook examiners' board.
The government apparently has concluded that the suicides are a local issue but that the nuclear attacks remain a national issue that could affect the outcome of the July 29 Upper House election.