In his 2015 article for The Japan Times, Robert Dujarric critiques the Abe administration’s use of public funds to target the Asahi Shimbun newspaper. 

Tokyo’s slow response will strengthen the arguments of skeptics who doubt that Japan can contribute to global security.

“Unfortunately, Japan’s government may have shown contrition for war crimes, but frequent statements…minimizing the extent of those crimes seriously undermined the credibility of its apologies.”