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Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

JCP Ichida criticizes LDP Abe for his anachronistic view of history

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi on a TV Asahi program aired on August 20 criticized Chief Cabinet Secretary Abe Shinzo, who is widely recognized as the strongest candidate in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election in September, for his remarks that Japan must correct its "masochistically biased" education.

Pointing out that Abe's remark is based on the belief that it is necessary to teach students that Japan had no choice but to wage the war of aggression that included the "Manchurian Incident" in 1931 and the 1941-45 Pacific War, Ichida stated, "Abe's view fundamentally denies the principles that Japan and the international community adopted after World War II."

"True, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (Tokyo Tribunal) had various weaknesses, including the failures to establish the Emperor Showa's responsibility for the war, as well as responsibilities of the United States for its massive air raids on Tokyo and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Despite that, the Tokyo Tribunal had a positive significance in that it condemned Japan for waging a war of aggression. Demanding an education policy that refuses this significance is very dangerous," Ichida warned.

Referring to Abe's call for a "complete overhaul of the Constitution and allowing Japan to exercise the right of collective self-defense," Ichida pointed out that even the successive LDP governments that have pursued the policy of dispatching the Self-Defense Forces abroad through 'constitutional interpretations' have failed to use force abroad and to exercise the right to collective self-defense because Article 9 of the Constitution acted as a restraint.

"What Abe intends to do is to remove the restraint by changing Article 9, enabling Japan to use force abroad," Ichida stated.

Pointing out that the under the pretext of the right to collective self-defense the United States waged its war of aggression against Vietnam, Ichida criticized the Abe's notion to exercise such a right.
- Akahata, August 21, 2006