The 68th anniversary of Japan's surrender to the Allied Powers has arrived. This year's anniversary to mark the end of World War II comes as Japan, under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, appears to be discarding self-restraint in the use of military forces — an important postwar principle that helped Japan gain the international community's trust.
As then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama said in his Aug. 15, 1995, statement to mark the 50th anniversary of the war's end, Japan should not forget that "Japan ... through its colonial rule and aggression, caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly to those of Asian nations."
If Mr. Abe's policy leads other countries in the Asia-Pacific region to think that the Japanese government has forgotten Mr. Murayama's words, tensions will rise and Japan will become more isolated.