A Japanese friend, Michio Hamaji, sent me an email on June 25, saying he was annoyed to hear that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has ruled out the inclusion of some documents related to Japan's Constitution in its memory register. The 70-something businessman-turned-campaigner for the pacifist Constitution blamed the administration of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for the UN body's decision.

The Asahi Shimbun reported that UNESCO has decided not to consider politically sensitive nominations for its Memory of the World Register, which is designed to preserve important historical materials.

In 2015, UNESCO included China's dossier on the Nanjing Massacre in the register. The package had documents from Dec 13, 1937, to early 1938, including court records from the trials of war criminals, as well as photographs taken by the Japanese army and a film shot by an American missionary. Japan was so irritated with UNESCO's decision that it temporarily postponed its contribution of 3.9 billion yen ($35 million) to the world organization, arguing that the UNESCO program should not be used for political purposes.