By Sun Wenzhu

According to reports, the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum has proposed updating its exhibition panels in 2026 by replacing the clearly defined term Nanjing Massacre with the more ambiguous expression "Nanjing Incident." This move is the latest example of Japanese right-wing forces continuing to downplay and conceal the crimes committed by the Japanese military and evade responsibility for Japan's history as an aggressor. It also represents another dangerous attempt by right-wing groups to whitewash Japan's wartime aggression and challenge the postwar international order.

In recent years, as right-wing politicians have maintained a long grip on the Japanese regime, historical revisionism has become increasingly rampant and harmful in Japan. So-called peace memorial halls in places such as Osaka and Hiroshima have quietly removed exhibits related to Japan's history of external aggression. 

History textbooks approved by Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology have replaced references to the forcible recruitment of laborers and comfort women with the more neutral term "mobilization," while substituting the term "Sino-Japanese War" for the War of Japanese Aggression against China. 

Meanwhile, institutions such as the National Archives of Japan and the National Institute for Defense Studies define the beginning of WWII as December 8, 1941—the date of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and the outbreak of the Pacific War—deliberately obscuring and ignoring the historical fact that Japan's war of aggression against China began in 1931.

The various manipulations carried out by Japan's right-wing forces may appear to be mere semantic games, but in reality they are driven by far more troubling motives. Their objective is to downplay the gravity of Japan's wartime aggression, distort historical facts, systematically rewrite historical memory, and ultimately whitewash Japanese militarism's identity as an aggressor. 

Ironically, while the Japanese government goes to great lengths to deny or obscure its record of colonial aggression and the suffering it inflicted on other nations, it frequently invites foreign dignitaries and visitors to Hiroshima and Nagasaki to highlight Japan's experience as a victim of war and thereby elicit international sympathy.

Behind these various manifestations of historical revisionism lies an ambition that Japan's right-wing forces have never abandoned—the pursuit of status as a major political and military power. During the Cold War, Japan's right wing took advantage of the strategic reliance of the US on Japan, enabling the country to evade a thorough reckoning with its militarist past. 

Since the beginning of the 21st century, Japanese politics has continued to shift to the right. Cabinet members have repeatedly visited the Yasukuni Shrine, where Class-A war criminals are enshrined, while right-wing politicians have sought to portray Japan's colonial aggression as acts of "self-defense" or "the liberation of Asia." They have promoted historical narratives that deny the outcomes of the victory in the World Anti-Fascist War, generating public support for efforts to break free from the postwar framework and even challenge the postwar international order.

In parallel with these developments, Japan has accelerated its advance down the dangerous path of military expansion. At the institutional level, Japan has lifted the ban on the exercise of the right of collective self-defense, relaxed restrictions on the export of lethal weapons, and sought to revise the Three Non-Nuclear Principles. 

In terms of force development, Japan has openly departed from the "exclusively defense-oriented" principle, continuing to increase defense spending substantially, advance the deployment of medium- and long-range missiles, and enhance offensive military capabilities. Some voices have even advocated the extreme notion of Japan acquiring its own nuclear weapons. 

At the organizational level, the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) has established the JSDF Joint Operations Command (JJOC) to unify command over the various services and has promoted measures aimed at restoring elements of the wartime military rank structure. 

In addition, Japan has used its alliance network as a cover to hype up narratives of "emergencies in surrounding areas" and "survival-threatening situations," while continuously expanding the scope of its overseas military activities. The numerous developments associated with Japan's military buildup have given rise to growing concerns about the resurgence of militarism.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, commonly known as the Tokyo Trials. The legal foundations that the Tokyo Trials established for the postwar international order must not be undermined. 

Attempts by Japan's right-wing forces to rewrite history to whitewash their aggression and generate support for military expansion can neither absolve Japan of its historical responsibilities nor help create a genuinely secure and stable environment for the Japanese people. Nor can such efforts earn the trust of neighboring countries. The international community must remain highly vigilant against Japan's troubling and dangerous moves and work together to strengthen the defenses of historical justice and safeguard world peace.

(The author is from China Institute of International Studies)