What Should Japan Do First?

Recently I've read the book titled "Toward a Beautiful Country（「美しい国へ」）", which is written by the Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe. The book is written in plain Japanese and we can know easily about Mr. Abe's view on the modern history of Japan and what Japan should be and do from now on. I enjoy it and I like it. (As far as I know, the book hasn't been translated into English.)

By the way, it is said that Mr. Abe is so hawkish that he wants to revise peaceful Constitution of Japan. Some people say that Mr. Abe wants Japan to have a powerful military power and a potential ability to fight with another country. Especially China, ROK and other Asian countries seem to have such a doubt on the Mr. Abe's intention of revising the Constitution of Japan and his patriotic statements. Certainly he wants to revise the Constitution of Japan, but it is not from as an ambitious intention as the past Japan had, but from a forward-looking approach to the Asian countries.

Japan once proceeded into an ambitious militarism and as a result invaded China, Korea and many other Asian countries. The atrocity of militaristic Japan finally gives birth to an unforgettable tragedy in our history. Mr. Abe knows it and, of course, he does not intend to do it again.

It is not easy to cure the injured in the history of war. Many people in the Asian countries may hope Japan to compensate themselves for its past aggression and vandalism. I don't think it will cure them completely by doing it. All we can do is that we hope that we'll overcome the history of tragedy and build a peaceful and affluent friendship with the Asian countries. For Japan to do so, Mr. Abe should explain to the countries who cast a doubt on the recent mood of patriotism in Japan what Japan will do and should do and show them that Japan is now a peaceful, politically and religiously free and democratic country.

I think Japan is not well understood in many other Asian countries.One of the reasons may be that Japan failed to explain its idea to them; The ordinary Japanese people tend to express so moderately their feeling and idea and might be usually misunderstood by the people around them. This is a kind of tragedy that the Japanese people have in origin. Such a mentality might be cast on the modern foreign policy of Japan. If so, we have to change it and explain to our friends what we will do. That's what Japan should do first in our foreign policy. And Mr. Abe is going to do it, I think. (I would like Mr. Abe to have his book translated into English to have many people all over the world read it.)