Lowering tensions between China and Japan over historical issues and maritime territorial disputes is a common wish. But how can this wish be fulfilled when Japanese politicians are trying to create confusion about history?

Following Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's condemnable visit to Yasukuni Shrine, which honors 14 Class-A war criminals, on Dec 26, Japanese politicians and officials have passed more comments and taken more actions that have hurt the feelings of people in neighboring countries.

On Feb 3, Naoki Hyakuta, a governor of NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), publicly denied that the Nanjing Massacre, in which 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers were killed by the Japanese, ever took place. His remarks came after his colleague, Katsuto Momii, the new NHK chairman, tried on Jan 25 to whitewash Japan's atrocities in regard to "comfort women" by saying that the Japanese military's use of sex slaves during World War II was a common practice for nations at war. Momii described international anger against Japan for forcing women into sex slavery as "puzzling."