A drama currently being played out on the stage of national politics in Japan may well mark a turning point in the country's postwar history.
On March 9, a panel of experts appointed by Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada presented its findings on secret agreements made between Japan and the United States with regard to the revision of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty in 1960 and the reversion of Okinawa to Japan in 1972.
In fact, though, the March 9 presentation was no real open-sesame moment. The existence of some salient details of those pacts, contravening as they did the three anti-nuclear principles adopted by Japan, has been known for years.