Abe's Nationalist Japan

Australian National University Professor and APP member Rikki Kersten was interviewed on June 2nd byABC News about the consequences of Abe's retrogressive views of Japanese history and society. His interpretations of the past affect not only relations with Japan's Asia neighbors, but also with Western allied nations. As Dr. Kersten points out,

If Japan continues to provoke mistrust in its agenda, if it's nationalism continues to offend ,Japan cannot hope to act effectively economically diplomatically, or even in security terms. It is that simple.

Although there has been a steady stream of articles and speeches trying to refute impressions of new Japanese rightwing revisionism by Abe government supporters, there is evidence to the contrary. He is either founder or a prominent member of many conservative nationalist parliamentary leagues and study groups such as Nippon Kaigi and Sosei Nippon.

Abe is, as noted by Sophia University Koichi Nakano on the video above, a "nationalist by conviction."

Professor Kersten will visit Washington, DC in July to exchange views with American colleagues.