海角大神

When Shinzo Abe becomes the first Japanese prime minister to address a joint session of the US Congress today聽it will be under a shadow cast by events of seven decades ago.

For Japan, Prime Minister Abe鈥檚 week-long trip to the US that saw him at Harvard on Monday, and in the Oval Office and at a White House state dinner on Tuesday, is meant to聽demonstrate just how far the Japan-US relationship has come since the Pacific war ended in August 1945.

Mr. Abe has been talking about cooperation on trade and security, underpinned by a shared anxiety over an increasingly assertive China. President Obama standing yesterday with Abe in the Rose Garden reiterated that, "our treaty commitment to Japan鈥檚 security is absolute." Obama said he shared Japan's concern at some of China's actions in maritime disputes. 聽

But for all the positive aspects of what former US ambassador to Tokyo Mike Mansfield once described as the most important bilateral relationship in the world, 鈥渂ar none,鈥� Abe's much desired moment of triumph on Capitol Hill could fall flat unless he grasps the nettle of Japan's wartime legacy.

There are few signs, though, that Abe will disabuse his US critics that he is anything other than a deeply conservative leader with an ideological commitment to rewriting Japan鈥檚 modern history.聽

The clamor from those critics for Abe to issue an explicit apology for Japan鈥檚 wartime behavior has grown: Last week 25 House members, led by Japanese-American Mike Honda (D) of Calif., wrote a letter to Japan's ambassador to Washington urging Abe to address sensitive wartime issues in his congressional speech.

Abe, the letter said, should "formally reaffirm and validate" previous apologies.

"To ignore past atrocities," added Rep. Steve Israel (D) of New York, "is to ensure a very troubling future."

70th anniversary of World War 2

The timing of Abe鈥檚 address is significant, coming amid a succession of commemorations of key World War II battles, not the least Okinawa and Iwo Jima, and ahead of the 70th anniversary of Japan鈥檚 defeat on 15 August 1945.聽Today, the day of the speech, moreover, is聽the birthday of Japan鈥檚 wartime emperor, Hirohito.聽

Previous Japanese prime ministers attempted to use the 50th and 60th war anniversaries to mend fences with China and South Korea, where the scars of occupation have yet to heal.

At issue is whether Abe, while staying faithful to his revisionist roots, will nonetheless echo the tenets of his predecessors鈥� postwar doctrine: a 鈥渉eartfelt apology鈥� for past wrongs and recognition that Japan had waged a 鈥渨ar of aggression."聽

During a speech at the Asia-African conference in Jakarta last week, Abe voiced 鈥渄eep remorse鈥� for Japan鈥檚 wartime actions, but stopped short of apologizing.

Tellingly, he suggested in an earlier TV interview that he saw no need to repeat previous official apologies, preferring instead to issue a more 鈥渇orward-looking鈥� statement.

This drew a predictably angry response from China and South Korea, where Abe鈥檚 brand of revisionism is seen as proof of an unrepentant leader, determined to banish his country鈥檚 鈥渕asochistic鈥� genuflection over events that unfolded well before he was born.

But provoking Japan鈥檚 neighbors is nothing new. Beijing and Seoul reacted with predictable fury after Abe鈥檚 December 2013 visit to Yasukuni, a Tokyo war shrine that honors Japan鈥檚 war dead, including class A war criminals.聽

And while Abe has twice held bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, a similar meeting with South Korea鈥檚 president, Park Geun-hye, has stalled due to聽Abe鈥檚 claim that Japanese military authorities did not coerce tens of thousands of mainly Korean women into working in military brothels.聽

Comfort women voices still heard

Now, though, his historical revisionism is also attracting criticism in the US, from lawmakers, women鈥檚 rights groups, Korean-American activists, and former prisoners-of-war.

Officials in Washington have tried to focus on what they see as the positive impact of Abe鈥檚 tenure: progress on the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement, and bolstering Japan鈥檚 contribution to the allies鈥� joint security framework.

While no breakthrough is expected on free trade this week, Monday saw a high-profile rollout of an enhanced Japanese-US military cooperation, the first revision to US-Japan defense guidelines since 1997.

In return for a 鈥渟trong鈥� US commitment to Japan鈥檚 defense, Tokyo will expand its commitment to the bilateral security alliance in areas such as missile defense and mine sweeping, as well as providing logistical support for US troops in regions such as the Middle East.

While the planned relocation of a US Marine Corps base on Okinawa has foundered amid strong local opposition, Abe has dismissed any notion of moving the base off the island. The US argues that such a move would its military鈥檚 ability to act quickly in the event of a local flare-up, perhaps between Japan and China over ownership of the Pacific outcropping that Japanese call the Senkaku and Chinese call the Diaoyu islands.

Abe has also won support from Obama for his plans to loosen the constitutional restraints on Japan鈥檚 self-defense forces to allow them to come to the aid of US troops under attack.

Yet Abe will still find it difficult to drown out voices from a dark period in Japan鈥檚 history when he delivers his 40-minute speech, in English,聽on Wednesday. They include that of Lee Yong-soo, a former 鈥渃omfort woman鈥� who traveled to the US to attend demonstrations planned on Capitol Hill.

"I'm not going to die until we resolve this issue," Lee, 87, told reporters. "I am an honorable daughter of Korea, I am not a comfort woman."