German Chancellor Angela Merkel made a visit to Japan last week for the first time in seven years and unexpectedly urged the Japanese government to squarely confront the nation's wartime past. Merkel underlined that Germany frankly coming to grips with its war history was key to reconciliation with its neighbors. When meeting with Katsuya Okada, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, she mentioned the "comfort women" issue and again urged Tokyo to squarely face up to its history of aggression.

The Japanese government led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will definitely feel displeased. Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida complained that Merkel was not in a position to give Japan advice during her visit and it was not appropriate to make a simple comparison of Japan and Germany because the two take different approaches to tackling relations with their neighbors. Such a reaction conforms very much to the cultural psychology of the Japanese people.

US scholar Ruth Benedict claimed in her influential 1946 book The Chrysanthemum and the Sword that "... true shame cultures rely on external sanctions for good behavior" and "so long as [the perpetrator's] bad behavior does not 'get out into the world' he need not be troubled and confession appears to him merely a way of courting trouble."

Abe did not respond to Merkel's well-meant reminder, but instead attended a memorial ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the US firebombing of Tokyo on March 10, the first time a Japanese prime minister in office has ever participated in the event. Abe intended to emphasize that Japan was a "victim" of US actions in WWII as it suffered through the firebombing of Tokyo and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This is exactly what the Yushukan War Memorial Museum within the Yasukuni Shrine tells visitors.

What's the difference between postwar Japan and Germany? To deal with the threat of the Soviet Union, the US spared no effort to rebuild the economies of Germany and Japan and included them in the West. Washington then became an important broker for the reconciliation between Berlin and Paris, but turned Tokyo into a front to constrain Beijing. Though Japan is a part of Asia geographically, it has been intoxicated by being a member of the Western world.

Former German defense minister Volker Rühe once said Germany was surrounded by friends. By contrast, Japan's neighbors all feel deeply concerned because of Abe's revisionist attitude toward history. Tokyo attempts to break away from its dependency on Washington in terms of security and diplomacy but has plunged itself into unnecessary strategic tension, which constitutes a diplomatic tragedy.

Germany and Japan have in recent years been adopting significant adjustments to their national security strategies. Both are seeking permanent status at the UN Security Council. They have the legitimate right to create a safer environment for their own development, but meanwhile also have obligations to ensure that their choices will not erode the moral foundation of the international order.

On many occasions like the annual Munich Security Conference, German leaders have not only revealed Berlin's ambitions in security affairs, but also denounced Nazi Germany's atrocities and reminded the German people of the need for introspection. As Hans Kundnani, research director at the European Council on Foreign Relations, once said, Germany is now in a more advantageous and important position in Europe. Japan may learn from Germany about not only how to treat history, but also the wisdom of how to play a larger role in global security.

China has never given up its hope of reconciling with Japan. Chinese people also sympathize with Japanese civilians who lost their lives in the Tokyo bombings. Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated in a speech on China's first National Memorial Day for victims of the Nanjing Massacre in December 2014, "We should not bear hatred against an entire nation just because a small minority of militarists launched aggressive wars. The responsibilities for war crimes lie with a few militarists, but not the people." Abe should accurately understand the signals sent by Merkel, Xi and other state leaders.