From the Editor

William Letwin’s article, contrasting a recent visit to Japan with his earlier arrival as a young U.S. occupier in 1945, offers in general a benign judgment of what has been achieved by the Japanese since then. But about Japanese war guilt he feels disquiet.

With good reasons: the half-heartedness of the official Japanese apology for wartime crimes; the fact that even so modest a gesture was supported by less than half the Diet; and the Japanese concentration upon Hiroshima as the central event of World War II.

About the Author

John O’Sullivan

John O’Sullivan is a senior fellow at National Review Institute and a contributing editor of National Review.

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William Letwin’s article, contrasting a recent visit to Japan with his earlier arrival as a young U.S. occupier in 1945, offers in general a benign judgment of what has been achieved by the Japanese since then. But about Japanese war guilt he feels disquiet.

With good reasons: the half-heartedness of the official Japanese apology for wartime crimes; the fact that even so modest a gesture was supported by less than half the Diet; and the Japanese concentration upon Hiroshima as the central event of World War II.