Japan's relations with China and South Korea are at their lowest ebb since Japan normalized its diplomatic relations with them. In the recent past, this country has occasionally been at odds with the two countries over such problems as history textbooks and Japanese government leaders' visits to Yasukuni Shrine — a reminder of Japan's wartime militarism — but each time they avoided the worst situation through diplomatic efforts.

But after the Chinese government fiercely reacted to the action taken by the Japanese government in September 2012 to nationalize the contentious Senkaku Islands, among other things, their bilateral top-level exchanges were terminated. Then South Korea reemphasized its sovereignty over the disputed Takeshima islets and dredged up the problems of "comfort women" and requisitioned workers, deepening confrontation with Japan.

The two countries, linking these problems with Japan's war responsibility and militarization, have been intensifying their diplomatic campaigns against Japan in the United States and elsewhere abroad.