What a ludicrous interpretation of World War II history. If Satsuo Matsumoto wrote such a letter about Germany and Adolf Hitler's war to "liberate" Europe, he might be arrested and sent to prison for Holocaust denial. Germany can't change its dark and hellish Nazi past, but at least it won't tolerate anyone attempting to whitewash or deny that Hitler was a monster, much like wartime Japanese Prime Minister Tojo Hideki. Actually Tojo was Hitler's role model. Hitler admired the way Tojo was taking care of business in China.
If Matsumoto had only read an Education Ministry-approved high school history textbook, I could almost forgive him for his stupidity and evil sense of denial. The Education Ministry is in the revisionism business: Japan didn't invade China, it merely advanced into China. There were no sex slaves, merely some well-paid camp followers from Korea.
I bet many Japan Times readers are astonished that any educated Japanese would agree with the recent statements of former Air Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Toshio Tamogami. Tamogami has been disgraced and should no longer have a public voice in Japan.