Attending the Association of Asian Studies conference in Singapore last week, I realized that Japan's global image is not what it might be. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says Japan is back, but doubts are spreading about the version of Japan he is promoting. It appears that Abe's energetic regional diplomacy has been undercut by his awkward views on history and failure to deliver on structural reforms.

One panel at the conference saw presenters asserting that Japan is not shifting to the right. It's an unconvincing argument, though, that overlooks Abe's progress on implementing his core right-wing ideological agenda. It may be true that Japan's voters have not shifted much, but Abe is frog-marching the nation rightward as evident in his move to lessen transparency by enacting the state secrets legislation, genuflecting at the war-glorifying Yasukuni Shrine, appointing right-wing cronies to the board of NHK, lifting the ban on arms exports, elbowing aside constitutional constraints on Japan's military and securing approval for restarting nuclear reactors. Abe has also orchestrated a blatant hit-and-run on the 1993 Kono Statement, trying to discredit the government's long-standing admission of guilt regarding coercive and duplicitous recruitment of Korean teenagers to provide sex for Japanese troops under the comfort women system (1931-45). Abe's revisionist history ensures that the past casts a long shadow over regional relations and tarnishes Japan's brand.

"Abenomics" is the main feature in the Japan-is-back narrative, but skepticism is growing. Team Abe cultivates the international press and encourages energetic Miley Cyrus-style twerking by reporters who should know better, but some regional financiers derided this exuberant cheerleading from publications otherwise known for hardheaded analysis. Instead they slammed Abenomics as a con job, expressing pessimism about the sustainability of Japan's economic recovery due to the absence of significant structural reform initiatives — the incredible shrinking "third arrow." In their view, the extended market honeymoon is not based on fundamentals and it's a case of Japan being less ugly than other options. These analysts told me Abe's best days may well be behind him, as there is gathering awareness that he is not delivering on his growth strategy, even sparking dissension within the Bank of Japan about the merits of massive monetary easing.