Formerly, whenever a right-wing party held power in Japan, their political opposition would keep them in check with regards to the depiction of historical events in teaching materials. Today, however, there has arguably been a marriage between historical and territorial perspectives between the two sides. After the changes were announced, Japan's largest opposition party, the Democratic Party, brooked no opposition to the textbooks' description of the islands, save to contend that illustrations in former editions were inadequate.

From any reasonable perspective, Abe's standpoint on modern historical issues is ill founded. For the purposes of confounding his views on his country's past aggressions, a more adequate body of evidence already exists, encompassing eyewitness testimony, material evidence, and transcripts from the trials of Japanese war criminals of World War II, as well as official pronouncements by his fellow statesmen, Yohei Kono and Tomiichi Murayama.

All of this serves to remind Japan and the international community that the former's acts of invasion and massacre and its drafting of comfort women during World War II are all, sadly, facts inscribed in stone. We can forgive, but for the sake of the dead, the living and those yet to come, we cannot forget. As to territorial issues, a similarly compelling abundance of documentation exists establishing that the Diaoyu Islands are the territories of China.

The retrogression evident in the revisionist textbooks reflects the consistent practice of the Abe administration concerning historical and territorial issues. The aim is to impart an inaccurate version of historical events onto Japan's youth and the international community at large. Such actions run contrary to the country's attempts to improve relations with neighboring countries and may impede the development of East Asia's burgeoning economy.

At present, the level of interaction between the peoples of China, South Korea—which also suffered Japanese occupation—­and Japan is increasing, pointing encouragingly to a more convivial state of affairs across the whole of East Asia. The Abe administration, however, has stuck firm to its position on historical and territorial issues, and has thus slowed the vital thawing of Japan's relations with its neighbors.

At the 2015 International Forum for the Trilateral Cooperation held in Tokyo on April 3, former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda imparted some words of wisdom: "The leader of a state must not be agitated by public opinion. At the same time, the leader must not agitate public opinion." The present incumbent of his position would do well to take heed of his predecessor, lest he, unwittingly or in full knowledge, sow the seeds of future instability in East Asia.

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