by Zhou Yaxin
Ninety-five years ago, the Sept. 18th Incident shocked China and the world.
It marked the beginning of Japan's long-premeditated aggression against China. The Chinese people rose up in resistance and fought an arduous War of Resistance until securing victory 14 years later, at a staggering cost of 35 million military and civilian casualties.
While the historical wounds have yet to heal, present-day concerns are mounting by the day.
Ninety-five years on, the poisonous legacy of militarism has yet to be fully addressed. Japan's right-wing forces are still going to great lengths to downplay, if not glorify, the history of aggression.
August 15, the day of Japan's unconditional surrender, should be an occasion for it to deeply reflect and repent. This year, however, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, in her capacity as head of the Liberal Democratic Party, made a cash offering to the notorious Yasukuni Shrine that honors 14 Class-A war criminals of World War II. According to Japanese media, she worshiped the shrine from afar, while multiple incumbent cabinet members and lawmakers visited the shrine in person. At the National Memorial Ceremony for the War Dead, Takaichi made no mention of "reflection" or "lessons," the customary language used by successive prime ministers, laying bare her stubborn refusal to reflect on history.
After the end of World War II, Japan never did any serious soul-searching about its war of aggression, nor did it fully purge the remnants of militarism. Many war criminals returned to politics and the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF). These right-wing figures, inheriting the militarist ideology, have tampered with textbooks and historical records and carried out PR and whitewashing campaigns in an attempt to downplay and glorify the history of aggression and colonialism, and indoctrinate Japan's younger generation with right-wing historical narratives. They express "regret over defeat" and portray Japan as a "victim" instead of reflecting on and repenting for its war crimes. By doing so, they distort perceptions among the Japanese people and the international community, and seek public support for the right-wing government's re-militarization agenda.
The right-wing forces represented by Takaichi are also accelerating efforts to revise Japan's three key security documents and seek constitutional revision to expand military capabilities. They have lifted the ban on exports of lethal weapons and signaled an intent to revise Japan's Three Non-Nuclear Principles. They have deployed long-range missiles with "enemy base strike capabilities." Japan's defense budget has grown for 14 consecutive years, surging to over 9 trillion yen (about 57 billion U.S. dollars) in fiscal 2026, or 2 percent of the country's GDP. Instead of adhering to its "exclusively defense-oriented" policy, Japan has now ripped off the mask of a "peaceful" nation and is attempting to make itself a "war-capable" nation again.
A comparison between Japan today and Japan before World War II reveals striking similarities:
In 1882, Aritomo Yamagata coined the "line of advantage" theory, framing the Korean Peninsula and China as Japan's "lifeline" and laying the ideological groundwork for Japan's annexation of the Korean Peninsula and aggression against China. In November 2025, Takaichi associated a so-called "Taiwan contingency" with a "survival-threatening situation," thereby grossly interfering in China's internal affairs and fabricating an excuse for meddling in Taiwan-related affairs.
Before World War II, Japan invaded Asian countries and imposed colonial rule under the pretext of "Pan-Asianism" and "liberating Asia." Today, Japan justifies its military buildup and expansion in the name of pursuing "proactive pacifism" and upholding the "Indo-Pacific order."
Before World War II, Japan inculcated unwavering loyalty to the Emperor among its people through the Imperial Rescript on Education. Today, the National Defense Academy of Japan retains the "tradition" of making students walk dozens of kilometers overnight to the Yasukuni shrine to worship the war criminals enshrined there. Under the poisonous influence of militarism, a serving JSDF member went so far as to intrude into the Chinese Embassy in Japan with a knife.
Even more dangerously, whenever Japan's economy falls into a slump, it tends to pursue external expansion to divert attention. After the Meiji Restoration, Japan vigorously developed modern industry, but suffered from insufficient domestic capital, widespread bankruptcies among farmers, acute social tensions, severe fiscal pressure, and a narrow domestic market. To secure overseas sources of raw materials and markets for its goods, Japan launched the First Sino-Japanese War, from which it obtained massive reparations and access to the Chinese market. The Showa Financial Crisis of 1927 and the Great Depression of 1929 caused anxiety in Japan, eventually leading to the growth of militarist forces and the launch of external aggression.
Today, the yen has hit a 40-year low, Japan's national debt has risen to over 200 percent of its GDP, prices are soaring, and more than 1,000 companies are going bankrupt each month. The Takaichi government seeks to prop up Japan's economy by bolstering the defense industry and aggressively selling arms abroad, at the risk of reopening Pandora's box of militarism.
In disregard of the postwar international order, Japan is trying to break free from the constraints of the postwar system. It is accelerating re-militarization and posing a real threat to peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific.
History must never be forgotten. Otherwise, past mistakes will be repeated. On the 95th anniversary of the Sept. 18th Incident, we shall never forget the suffering endured by the people of China and other Asian countries that were invaded, nor the atrocities committed by Japanese militarists. All peace-loving nations and peoples should remain vigilant against the resurgence of militarism in Japan and guard against attempts by Japan's right-wing forces to create a new Sept. 18th Incident.
Editor's note: The author is an international affairs observer.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Xinhua News Agency.
