This study of Japan's dilatory and grudging attempts to come to terms with, and take responsibility for, its imperial aggression throughout Asia over the past century provides some interesting insights about contemporary Japan. Wakamiya argues that the ideology of Pan Asianism developed in the late 19th century remains vibrant as a means to obscure the reality of and to justify Japan's self-serving aggression and systematic trampling of Asians' interests since the Sino-Japanese War of 1895.
In recent decades, Japan has been the target of its neighbors' ire for refusing to face this checkered past forthrightly, demonstrate contrition and take unequivocal responsibility for its transgressions. Other Asians seem to harbor no illusions about Japan's self-congratulatory and exculpatory version of Pan Asianism and are well aware of the suffering inflicted by the Imperial military forces during the 1930s and 1940s. An image of Japan as the liberator of Asia appeals to conservative Japanese, but this is not how most Asians remember an often-brutal Pax Nipponica.
Wakamiya draws on his experiences as a reporter and editor for the Asahi Shimbun to elucidate the politics of history and how this has encouraged a collective amnesia in Japan and thwarted reconciliation with its victims in the region. This is a translation of the author's book, "Sengo Hoshu no Ajiakan" (1995) with some additional material covering events up through 1998.