Japan´s view of World War II

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Meanwhile, other Japanese squarely face their country's past.

The Kyoto Museum for World Peace is the first peace museum in the world created by a university. Ritsumeikan University's decision to establish this peace museum in 1992 was based on a desire to represent Japanese war history as accurately as possible. The museum displays the damage and after-effects of the wars as experienced by Japanese people. But it also depicts the aggressive acts conducted by Japanese military forces in the Asia Pacific region.

Anzai Ikuro, director Kyoto museum for world peace, said, "It is my greatest regret that Japan does not have a national museum that can display objective views about the war. With this museum, we'd like people to realize that Japan is both an inflictor and a victim. Millions and millions of people from many countries in the Pacific region lost their lives during the war. Japan suffered great loss of lives, too."

Some 530,000 visitors have toured the museum in recent years. The number is not nearly as high as those who have visited the Yasukuni Shrine. But the very existence of the museum is a testimony to the rationality of many Japanese people toward Japan's actions during World War Two.