by Jon Day

TOKYO, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- It would be no overstatement to say that Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is approaching the end of this year with many of the same convictions he had when entering it.

The one difference, however, is that a number of those convictions have already been enacted into law and those pending, soon will be, confirming experts' speculation that Abe plans to continue to drag the nation down a new path of remilitarized, old nationalism.

"Abe didn't begin the year on a particularly bright note as his ill-advised pilgrimage to the notorious Yasukuni shrine at the end of 2013 ensured the gulf between Japan and its closest neighbors would become that bit wider," Asian affairs analyst Kaoru Imori told Xinhua.

Imori added that it was perhaps at this point experts began to truly realize Abe's true ultranationalistic colors, as this was considered a truculent move.

"We knew he was a nationalist, his history up until now supported that, but there's a difference between being a conservative politician and an ultranationalist, a big difference, " he said.

The visit to Yasukuni and the fallout facing the prime minister at the beginning of this year would define his diplomacy for the rest of it. In fact it was highly calculating, all choreographed and he absolutely intended to all but sever diplomatic ties with China and South Korea, as part of his rightwing "power play," which was set to get more and more involved, Imori added.

"So, it's no wonder why some neighboring countries, believe that politicians, particularly the prime minister, visiting the shrine is unforgivable and only serves to either glorify or gloss over Japan's wartime wrongdoing," said Imori.

"In this region history and diplomacy have always gone hand in hand and the further Japan pushes itself away from facing up to its history, the further it estranges itself from its closest neighbors," he added.

To this end, Japan's national public broadcaster NHK, found itself prominently in the spotlight, as its board of directors, all handpicked by Abe for their nationalistic leanings, were accused of being Abe's new political mouthpiece, with the accusations punctuated by a series of gaffes, involving one of the directors denying the Nanjing Massacre ever occurred and its president whitewashing over Japan's use of comfort women during the war.

"On the one hand, it's a huge embarrassment for NHK to be associated with such nationalistic gaffes, but on the other hand it's a reflection of politics in Japan. Parliament elected the board at NHK and politics is shifting to the right and the media is a powerful tool that the government, as it continues down a right leaning path, will seek to control more," Dr. David McLellan, professor emeritus of postgraduate Asian Studies in Tokyo, told Xinhua recently.

McLellan outlined that a lot had been said about the comfort women issue this year and much of it had been exacerbated by Japan attempting to review how its landmark 1993 apology for the forcible conscription of women into sexual slavery by its military during WWII, known as the Kono Statement, was compiled, much to the consternation of Seoul.

Japan looking to reexamine the authenticity of the Kono statement with an aim to possibly revising it and in twine with Abe's plans to issue a fresh statement marking the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII next year, to replace the Murayama statement, will almost certainly ensure that its once fruitful ties with its closest Asian neighbors, may become irrevocably severed, observed said of the issue.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama urged earlier in the year that his landmark 1995 apology for the nation's wartime atrocities and the 1993 Kono Statement admitting culpability and apologizing for Japan's forcible wartime conscription of sex slaves should not be reexamined.

"What we've seen is a government now unashamedly trying to rewrite its own history so it can chart a different future course. Rather than glossing over history, what we're seeing are attempts to erase huge parts of it by the government denying that aspects of it ever happened. This has huge implications on education and thus the future of Japan," McLellan said.

He detailed that it was from here that Abe set about revising the nation's guidelines on weapons exports as part of a new defense policy, although all the while espousing the potential economic benefits to the nation.

The move was a huge shift away from Japan's 1967 "three principles" on weapons export embargo, but, nevertheless, the embargo was reversed despite more than 66 percent of Japan's population standing staunchly opposed to weapons exports from here of any kind.

"Reversing the embargo and then unilaterally forcing the National Security Council (NSC) into existence to ensure weapons get clearance, having already snubbed outstanding issues of diminishing diplomacy with China and South Korea, was a clear sign that Abe and Japan were taking a step closer towards Japan's remilitarization, but for Abe it didn't stop there,"said McLellan.

Abe wanted to achieve his ultimate goal of making Japan's Self- Defense Forces (SDF) able to play a greater security role at home and abroad, but at the heart of the controversial issue is the war- renouncing Article 9 section of Japan's Constitution, which has remained unchanged since its adoption in 1947 and forbids the use of force as a means of settling international disputes and also prohibits Japan from maintaining an army, navy or air force.

To circumvent a referendum on changing the Constitution, Abe decide that a simple reinterpretation of the key clause would be enough to rewrite Japan's future military history and the Cabinet decided to allow Japan's forces the right to exercise collective self-defense in some situations, despite monumental national protests, by both opposition parties and members of the public. Abe had been ardently pushing for this particular goal since he assumed office in December 2012, and since then has feverishly set about enacting controversial and publicly vilified legislative policies, such as the state secrecy protection law that came into effect this month and prior to that the creation of the NSC, and sidestepped a much-needed public referendum on the issues, as he himself, become the sole instrument of change for a nation, which had previously preached the virtues of pacifism. As tensions continued to rise in the region over issues of territory and historical misperceptions, rather than attempt to diffuse the situation, Japan spurned a golden opportunity to bridge the gap with its neighbors by Abe and his ruling LDP doing nothing to mend the nation's broken ties on the 69th anniversary of Japan's surrender in WWII.

Abe and his party, with the former by way of a proxy and the latter represented by three wayward Cabinet ministers, on this historic day, succeeded only in maintaining a deeply discouraging status quo by again paying tribute to the souls at Yasukuni.

"Previous administrations on this day in history have adhered to the landmark 1995 Murayama Statement, apologizing for the nation's wartime atrocities, but Abe, who deems this apology inaccurate, is ensuring that the world views Japan as indifferent or even proud of its historical wrongdoing by deviating from, what for years has become a recognized global standard," said Imori previously.

The opportunity, watched and very much hoped for by the global community as a step towards mending the growing divide between Japan and its closest neighbors, as military tensions rise rapidly in the region, was not just wasted, but spurned, analysts attested. "The majority of regular Japanese citizens are moderate thinkers with moderate political positions, but when a government sets about rewriting history, altering textbooks and manipulating its public broadcaster, the potential for misunderstanding is worryingly high," said Imori.

With Abe now facing a likely four year clear run in office following his coalition's landslide win at this month's snap election, with his two-thirds majority win in the lower house, he is now in a position to set about legally amending Japan's Constitution,meaning the remilitarization of the nation could be further reaching and on a larger scale than previously thought.

"The direction, henceforth, for Abe, is for him to see Japan returned to an ultra-conservatist society that rejects individual liberties, such as women's rights, and is led once again, by Shintoism," McLellan said, highlighting the fact that most of his Cabinet belong to Nippon Kaigi, an organization which is an ultranationalistic nonparty entity with around 300,000 members who all believe in praising the Imperial family (The Emperor), changing the pacifist Constitution, promoting nationalistic education in schools and supporting parliamentarians' visits to Yasukuni Shrine.

Nippon Kaigi is the biggest rightwing organization in Japan and Abe has cherry picked his Cabinet members from this group to run the country. "These Shinto conservatives believe that Japan should not apologize for its wartime acts of brutality and despite the legitimacy of proven historical events, such as the travesty inflicted on Nanjing in China during WWII and the Imperial Forces' forcible use of comfort women," the expert on Asian affairs added.

Abe's path this year has become clearer and there are no more suspicions or conspiracy theories going forward. "From now on we are dealing with a hard-nosed ultra-right wing leader, who surrounds himself with like-minded nationalists, and wants to see Japan restored to what he believes was its wartime greatness. It's as simple and as worrying as that," McLellan concluded.