Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has taken a successful first step toward more constructive relations between Japan, on the one hand, and China and South Korea, on the other, by visiting the capitals of both countries and holding summits with their leaders less than two weeks after he took office. By making these visits, Mr. Abe has shown that he is flexible enough to adopt a pragmatic approach to help solve important issues while setting aside his personal ideology. Japan's relations with the two neighboring countries had deteriorated due to former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to the war-related Yasukuni Shrine.

Mr. Abe's meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing on Sunday was the first Japan-China summit held in China since October 2001 when Mr. Koizumi held a summit with then Chinese President Jiang Zemin. Mr. Abe also held his first summit with South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun in Seoul on Monday -- the first Japan-South Korea summit since Mr. Roh met with Mr. Koizumi in Pusan in November 2005.

In his respective meetings with Mr. Hu and Mr. Roh, Mr. Abe expressed remorse over the enormous damage and sufferings Japan "in the past" caused to people of Asian nations. Thus he made it clear that he has endorsed the statement made by then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama on Aug. 15, 1995, the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, in which the Japanese government officially apologized for such damage and sufferings Japan's colonial rule and aggression had caused. It is also noteworthy that Japan and China and Japan and South Korea, respectively, agreed to launch joint historical research -- the first such research for Japan and China and a second round for Japan and South Korea.