hmmm.
Still, I think if anyone is going to apologize it should be the nationalists who are making offense to China/Korea as individuals.
I don't know if it is right to ask Japan to apologize as a nation. I know I wouldn't want to. I hate this whole business of "you apologize!" "No you, Why should I??"
Neither state or government ideology, or representative who fought that war on either side are alive or in power today. So apologizing is like prostrating yourself for your national identity, and to concede that your nation is in the wrong. A secular, democratic state should not have the right to apologize for the people, since they represent the people. What is the meaning of these government "apologies" anyway?
It's like a form of tribute.
There's too much pride to apologize, even though the more I type, the more I realise that Japan's formal "apology" would probably help international affairs greatly.
It's painful business.