One pitfall for politicians is their tendency to get carried away with success. History has no shortage of examples of political leaders who, having seen everything turn out right for them, acted carelessly, lost the trust of their supporters and ultimately suffered a collapse of their power base.
The Dec. 26 visit by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Yasukuni Shrine might turn out to be such a case.
The Yasukuni visit illustrated how Japanese political leaders fail to understand the reality that issues related to the perception of history are political issues.