The Abe Cabinet on March 12 decided to hold a ceremony on April 28 to commemorate the day that Japan recovered its sovereignty under the San Francisco Peace Treaty 61 years ago on April 28, 1952. But another aspect of the peace treaty must not be forgotten. As it took effect, the Okinawa, Amami and Ogasawara islands were administratively separated from Japan and placed under the administrative rights of the United States.

Holding such a ceremony was one of the Liberal Democratic Party's campaign promises in December's Lower House election. Mr. Abe has said that an increasing number of young people do not know that Japan was occupied by the Allied Powers for seven years. He also said that on the anniversary, Japan will confirm the significance of its contributions to peace and prosperity of the international community.

Since Mr. Abe is calling for revisions of the Constitution — specifically revising the war-renouncing Article 9 in an effort to establish full-fledged armed forces — the possibility cannot be ruled out that he will try to use the ceremony to insinuate that since the Constitution was written during the Occupation, it has legitimacy problems. This would be an insult to the generations of Japanese who rebuilt Japan after the war and turned it into an economic superpower, all the while abiding by the principles of the peace Constitution.