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英誌「エコノミスト」（電子版）は8月19日付記事で、小泉首相の靖国神社参拝（8月15日）について、“Japan must face up to the past, if it wants to lead in the future”＝「日本は将来（世界で）指導性発揮したいと願うなら、過去と向き合わねばならない」と述べ、靖国問題など過去の侵略戦争についての責任問題に取り組むことを求めた。
同誌は、（靖国神社付設の）遊就館が1937-45年の戦争での日本をアジアの解放者（“A connected museum paints Japan in its wars of 1937-45 as the liberator of Asia, a victim of Western belligerency. ”）などと描き出していることを指摘した上で、小泉首相の靖国神社参拝の与えた影響を次のように述べている。
The consequences extend beyond the refusal by China and South Korea to hold summit meetings with Mr Koizumi. They make territorial disputes harder to settle and lie at the root of regional opposition to Japan's attempts to gain a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Mr Koizumi's visits, in short, have undermined his own vision of making Japan more "normal"--that is, ensuring for it a muscular presence in international affairs commensurate with its huge economy.
その影響は、中国と韓国が小泉氏との首脳会談を開くのを拒絶した以上に広がっている。領土問題をいっそう解決困難にしているし、国連安全保障理事会・常任理事国入りをしようとする日本の試みが（アジア）地域の反対にあっているのも根っこにこの問題がある。要するに、日本をより「正常（な存在）」にしようとする ― つまり、国際舞台での、その巨大な経済力に見合った、力強い存在を確かなものにしようとする小泉氏自身のビジョンが、彼の（靖国）参拝で台無しなってしまった。
では、同誌は小泉後継最有力と目されている安倍氏のことをどう見ているかと言えば、次のように述べている。
Will Mr Koizumi's presumed successor, Shinzo Abe, be any wiser? The chief cabinet secretary has impeccable nationalist credentials, so might be expected to compound the mess.
小泉氏の後継視されている安倍晋三（氏）は、もう少し賢明だろうか？官房長官は申し分のなく、折り紙付きの国家主義だ。だから、混乱を倍加されることになるかもしれない。
同誌はその上で、安倍氏にはこう求めている。
Mr Abe should kickstart a long-overdue national debate about Japan's wartime responsibility.
安倍氏は、長らく遅れていた日本の戦時責任についての国民的議論を開始すべきである。
同誌は、日本が過去の戦争責任問題に真剣に取り組むことを求め、次のように締めくくってている。
The trouble is that, with no consensus about the past, Japan's establishment is inept at articulating a better future. That future should start at Yasukuni.
困ったことに、過去（の歴史問題）についてのコンセンサスがないので、日本の体制は、より良い未来をはっきりと見通すのには不向きである。その将来は、靖国（問題）から始めるべきである。
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http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_SSJGGRV
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Japan and its neighbours: Drawing Yasukuni's sting
The Economist , n950 , The Economist ed , p51 , Saturday , August 19, 2006
Japan must face up to the past, if it wants to lead in the future
WHEN he was running for office in 2001, Junichiro Koizumi, Japan's prime minister, promised to visit Tokyo's Yasukuni shrine every year and to do so on August 15th, the anniversary of the emperor's admission that Japan had lost the war. Mr Koizumi always kept the first part of his promise, but only this week fulfilled the second. In formal morning coat and preceded by a Shinto priest, he spent only ten minutes at the shrine. Yet his visit brought roars of "banzai" from the crowd and a storm of disapproval from neighbouring countries.
The shrine is a memorial to 2.5m Japanese war dead, but also the focus for unrepentant militarism. Fourteen top war criminals were secretly enshrined in 1978. A connected museum paints Japan in its wars of 1937-45 as the liberator of Asia, a victim of Western belligerency. Meanwhile, August 15th at Yasukuni is a Bartholomew Fair of thugs, fantasists in military garb, deniers of atrocities and xenophobes peddling conspiracy theories. In previous years Mr Koizumi chose less symbolic dates, emphasising the private nature of his visit. This week it could not have been plainer that he came as prime minister, the first to visit on August 15th in two decades.
Mr Koizumi is no diehard imperialist. He sees the war dead as victims of Japan's own militarism. He does not honour the criminals and has no truck with the museum. His backers say that his statements on these matters are rarely picked up by local critics or by China, which inveighs against him for manipulating history. Besides, they always say, for real abuse why not single out China itself? It uses the past to stoke anti-Japan hatred as a useful tool at home. True, but hardly to the point. Mr Koizumi's feat is to have let a Communist dictatorship wrest the high ground from a pacifist democracy.
The consequences extend beyond the refusal by China and South Korea to hold summit meetings with Mr Koizumi. They make territorial disputes harder to settle and lie at the root of regional opposition to Japan's attempts to gain a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Mr Koizumi's visits, in short, have undermined his own vision of making Japan more "normal"--that is, ensuring for it a muscular presence in international affairs commensurate with its huge economy.
Will Mr Koizumi's presumed successor, Shinzo Abe, be any wiser? The chief cabinet secretary has impeccable nationalist credentials, so might be expected to compound the mess. On the other hand, only a right-winger has the authority to draw Yasukuni's sting. And for the first time, polls suggest a majority of Japanese are against their leaders' shrine visits.
It is not just a matter of avoiding a needless provocation; Mr Abe should kickstart a long-overdue national debate about Japan's wartime responsibility. Somehow, the war criminals enshrined at Yasukuni will have to be removed, even though the shrine has private status. One idea is to turn it into a secular institution, where national leaders, the imperial family and even Chinese dignitaries could pay their respects.
Would China respond? Its leader, Hu Jintao, has also come in for criticism. Instead of harping on about atrocities in the first half of the 20th century, some thoughtful Chinese say, he should emphasise the second half, when Japan was a source of regional stability and a force in China's own modernisation. Japan's desire for "normalisation" aims only to build on those benign influences. The trouble is that, with no consensus about the past, Japan's establishment is inept at articulating a better future. That future should start at Yasukuni.
Copyright (c) 2006 Economist Newspaper
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