On June 26, the House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee
voted by an overwhelming margin to support a resolution urging Japan to
"formally acknowledge, apologize, and accept historical responsibility
in a clear and unequivocal manner for its mi

Asahi Shimbun
Published: Jul 04, 2007

Though this document, which is likely to be approved by the House, is
non-binding it has clearly displeased Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s
administration while generating anxiety about the state of Japan-U.S.
relations

In many ways, it is understandable that Tokyo should feel unhappy.
Since it recovered its independence in 1952, Japan has been a model
citizen of the world. It has never even threatened a country with
aggression while creating a free and prosperous society at home. Unlike
Turkey, locked into denial of the Armenian genocide and Russia, whose
KGB-trained ruler refuses to express regret for Soviet atrocities,
Japan has publicly and frequently apologized for the evils of the Showa
Era. Moreover, Japanese can point at the hypocrisy of American
politicians, who mostly sat silently while their government legitimized
torture in the wake of 9/11, berating the Japanese for the sins of
their ancestors. Unfortunately, Japan’s government may have shown
contrition for the war crimes, but frequent statements, including by
the prime minister, either making obtuse differences between broad and
narrow coercion, or minimizing the extent of war crimes seriously
undermined the credibility of its apologies. An advertisement entitled
"The Facts" published on June 14 in The Washington Post and signed by
lawmakers of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the opposition
Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan), as well as by former diplomat
Hisahiko Okazaki, one of Abe’s best-known advisers, had a particularly
negative impact.