Japan has never made effort to reflect its past

BERLIN - Japan has never made an effort to face up to its wartime crimes, which may be the real reason behind its repeated rows with neighbors, German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung said in an article on Wednesday.

The article, which detailed the background behind recent tensions over the Diaoyu Islands between Tokyo and Beijing, said Japan argues that China lays claim to the islands because of the rich oil and gas resources in surrounding waters.

But for the Chinese, it said, the islands are a symbol of humiliation caused by Japan's occupation.

The newspaper also noted that the demonstrations were staged in China on Tuesday to mark the 81st anniversary of the "September 18 incident," which was used as an excuse for the Japanese invasion of China's northeast, formerly known as Manchuria.

Air raid sirens also wailed in numerous cities across China on Tuesday, including in Shenyang, capital of China's northeastern province of Liaoning, where the incident took place.

"Japanese soldiers massacred civilians in many Chinese cities in 1937 ... During the war, Japan developed -- with human experiments on Chinese -- biological weapons and then used them in China," the article said.

"In Japan no one has ever had to take responsibilities for all these acts. From Japan's view there is no stain in the history," it said.

The article said Japan has never made an effort to come to terms with its wartime past, either denying the atrocities or downplaying them with empty phrases such as "it was just war."

"Although the Japanese government expressed several times their regret over the incidents in the war, those pseudo-apologies were always followed by relativizations."

"No Japanese politician has ever shown a great gesture of atonement like Willy Brandt who was on his knees at a memorial to the Warsaw ghetto in 1970," the article said, adding: "From Japan's perspective the islands disputes have nothing to do with the aggression of Japan in World War II."

Tokyo does not want to be sucked into any debate about its historical guilt, the article added.