Many Japanese and long-time Japan observers have expressed dismay about the recrudescence of self-righteous nationalism under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has emboldened right-wing extremists now threatening democratic institutions and civil liberties.
"The revisionist right in Japan with the active encouragement, if not involvement, of the Abe government has succeeded in controlling NHK news, intimidating Asahi Shimbun and now academia," says Koichi Nakano, a professor of political science at Sophia University.
Abe has presided over the mainstreaming of reactionary extremism in his quest to rewrite and rehabilitate Japan's wartime past in Asia, and in doing so instigates widespread international criticism. Any other national leader who did the same for their nation's egregious history would merit a similar reaction.