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Was the army an extension of the government?
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The Japanese government had no control over the army before WWII, it was a seperate ministry under direct control of the emperor, which basically means that it could function anyway it wanted, since even though Hirohito had absolute power on paper, he really couldn`t do anything to control them. When the war was growing more serious, the army also took over the government by appointing Tojo Hideki as the new prime minister, when Konoe was reluctant to continue a serious war.
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Why I'll continue to respect Abe (he and Koizumi were the best things to happen to that office in quite a long while), he's needlessly provoking people now while ignoring several real, more important problems in his country. I've studied a lot of countries' histories in-depth, so I'm surprised that I'm about to use a stereotype here, but is he really concerned about repainting everyone's views of Japan's atrocious acts during their imperialist days (and I have no problems with imperialism, either)?
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You have got to be kidding, Koizumi was only the beginning of a new downfall, and Abe is kinda like a worst-case scenario (aside from Ishihara Shintaro). He is provoking people BECAUSE he can`t deliver the promises of his campagne, and he needs something to distract them from the real issues. You could see him as an example of the New Patriottism that`s gaining ground in Japan with recent reforms (Art. 9, education, jieitai), but even more than Koizumi he`s leaning towards Asian Monroeism (with Shintaro, stating that Japan should become a leader in Asia and that war was just in some way), since he was putting more effort in relations with Asia, contraire to Koizumi who was a lapdog of the US.
Jam it back in, in the dark.
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Peter