It seems to my understanding that Germany adamantly educates its people about the crimes it committed in the Second World War and even criminalizes Holocaust denial, but that Japan seems to seesaw and even blindside its own criminal actions in the same conflict. Now I've read somewhere that Japanese textbooks are less nationalistic than those of their victims (Korea and China) and has issued apologies, but at the same time Shinzo Abe could get away with whitewashing crimes such as comfort women and the Rape of Nanking, while Angela Merkel would be crucified if she even tries to justify the Holocaust.
This question is asked fairly often.
I've written at length here.
Here is another thread:
To the best of my understanding, the Japanese viewed their expansion as justified and necessary to compete with the western world. They reasoned that their conquest in Eastern Asia would establish them as the hegemony of the region and justified their claims as good for the region, pushing out colonial and imperial (western) influences. The current PM Shinzo Abe is a conservative leader to the best of my understanding, and his adamance on not apologizing for war crimes is understandable if you view the bigger picture which is this: Imperialism (and expansionism) is good and even recommended if you want to create power in your state. Much in the same way that European nations exploited Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and East Asia, Japan wanted to create power for itself: to invade, conquer and colonize is a western forte. Of course, that does not justify or make light of their WWII war crimes, but perhaps their refusal to apologize is indicative of the hypocrisies that Western Europe had committed for ages. Europe basically took over the world and established colony states (USA, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Belize, etc.) and committed atrocities along the way. Japan, or at least the hardcore conservative Japanese, probably saw the war crimes as the side effects of a crucial, necessary step to modernization: Imperialism. Remember that if the US had lost WWII, the US would have faced war crimes as well (internment camps, incendiary bombing of civilians, raping, etc.) so we should not paint the Japanese as the sole perpetrator of evil. I guess the most important thing to take from this is that from a Japanese perspective, they were following the lead of the great western powers; and since the British and French still had control over vast colonies and committed acts against humanity in their historical rise to power, then so would the Japanese rise to power. The current refusal to truly apologize for ALL acts of war is probably a combination of a conservative, nationalistic leader, and the complex history of both Japan and it's relation with the west. ---Most of my information was from my lectures in International Relations and familiarity with history so CITATION NEEDED. ---I do not claim to be an expert and this is MY understanding of the situation. ---Any corrections, discussion, or whatever is welcome. We can all strive to learn a bit more!