THIS PAST JANUARY, speaking to the North Atlantic Council, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe laid out an admirable vision for Japanese foreign policy. “We have to elevate democracy in places where it is emerging; consolidate respect for human rights where it is suppressed; and offer hope for a brighter future in situations where people are yielding to despair,” Abe said. “Our aim is to create a safer world where every individual can live with pride. To make this goal a reality, we need to be dynamic, and never fear casting off the shackles of dogma that we have long taken for granted. My country is ready to meet the world’s rising expectations for our enhanced role in the international community.” Unfortunately for Abe and other Japanese conservatives, playing that “enhanced role” in the future may require a deeper and more forthright scrutiny of the past.

Thanks in part to its foreign aid policies and burgeoning internationalism, Japan now commands remarkable global goodwill, especially in Southeast Asia. Abe hopes to spearhead a Japanese freedom agenda in that part of the world, while bolstering strategic ties with countries (principally the U.S., India, and Australia) that share “such fundamental values as freedom, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.” In order to facilitate a more robust security program, and better address the challenges posed by China and North Korea, he wants to revise the pacifist Article 9 of Japan’s MacArthur-era constitution.