Tessa Morris-Suzuki writes ‘in recent months sections of the media in Japan, and even internationally, have gone into overdrive to sell the message that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is not a nationalist.
‘Those who care about the future of Japanese society should not allow the dazzle of verbal juggling to induce a political version of the Gruen Transfer. The prime minister’s ideology may be re-branded for the global market, but the old adage remains: buyer beware.’
Tessa Morris-Suzuki is a historian of modern Japan and Korea. She is Professor in the School of Culture, History and Language, College of Asia and the Pacific, the Australian National University.