Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's decision to prod textbook publishers to depict Japan's involvement in World War II in a more nationalistic light is defended on the basis of the importance of imbuing students with patriotism.
So far at least, his efforts have not unleashed a backlash, probably because of China's increasingly bellicose stance toward Japan.
But that should not detract attention from the need for a debate over two major events that are undeniable: the dispute over the death toll in the 1937 massacre of Chinese civilians in Nanking, and the use of so-called comfort women from Korea to provide forced sex for soldiers.