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August 15, 1945, Japan announced its unconditional surrender, ending its militaristic aggression that resulted in more than 35 million Chinese casualties alone. The darkest chapter in human history came to its close.

81 years later, on the anniversary of that event, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made a monetary offering to the Yasukuni Shrine, the notorious site that "honors" 14 of Japan's Class-A war criminals. Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi visited the shrine on the same day. Several senior lawmakers of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party paid visits to the shrine as well.

There's always been forces in Japan that condone the right-wing forces' agenda, trying to whitewash history and deny Japan's crimes of aggression. Japan's pacifist Constitution and its defense-oriented principle have constantly been eroded whenever that force gets a sliver of power in the government.

Japan's return to the international community was laid out in the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation and the Japanese Instrument of Surrender. They mandated the reversing of Japan's territorial expansion, eliminated its militaristic influence and disarmed Japanese forces. That's how Japan was able to rejoin the international community as a peaceful country, with the world recognizing that Japan's militarism could never again be allowed to threaten its neighbors.

But, with the Takaichi administration in power, challenges to these fundamental principles and doctrines have been taken to another level. Just recently, Takaichi's administration established the national intelligence bureau, centralizing the country's intelligence power under the prime ministership, overhauling the decentralized intelligence landscape Japan had kept for over eight decades.

Japan's defense-related allocation for 2026 surpassed 9 trillion yen ($56.5 billion), a historical height, especially considering the "pacifist" status the country was defined by its constitution. Earlier in the year, Japan deployed its land-based Type 25 anti-ship missile that has a 1,000 km range, far exceeding Japan's requirement for its territorial defense. The Ministry of Defense's white paper, for the first time, included a chapter on "new forms of warfare."

Aggression has an insidious way of revealing itself. To those caught in its immediate waking nightmare, it could feel like a sudden fracture in time that, suddenly, enemy is at the doorstep. Yet, for anyone peering backward through the lens of history, it could always piece together a clear thread, consisting of not-so-subtle evidence showing that aggression has been long in the making. Today, we are seeing it in the making. The right-wing forces in Japan is chipping at the country's pacifist status, trying to hollow it out with actual military advancement, rendering the country in essence a militaristic nation with an ostensibly peaceful shell.

For those in East Asia, and for those countries who had suffered throughout the Second World War, it is imperative that that advancement must be stopped in its tracks. Fortunately, there are those who see clearly the danger of walking down that old path again. According to a global online survey conducted by CGTN, 83.6% of respondents believe Japan's new militarism is accelerating its military expansion, warning that the international community should remain highly vigilant.

Japanese civic groups and protesters are also opposing their governments' doing. In protests at the ceremony commemorating the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, a protester said that "the Takaichi government is continuously expanding military spending. Japan once invaded other Asian countries. Japan should have reflected on this, yet it is now moving in the opposite direction. For example, denying and distorting the 'Nanjing Massacre,' and even justifying past aggression, such actions are absolutely intolerable. I hope Japan can face this period of history more squarely and earnestly confront the past."

Yoshioka Tatsuya, director of the Japan-based international NGO Peace Boat, told a reporter that "and you know nuclear weapon is not distinguishing people, kill all, destroy all. And that experience is, this. So that's why we have to start to take action. That is a Japanese citizen's responsibility. I think this Article Nine is a very important pledge about that, we will not commit, aggressive military action again for future. So, I think that is a guarantee about that peace in Asia from Japanese side."

There is still time for those in Japan and in the international community to come together and stop the expansion of militarism in its tracks. Eight decades ago, Japan's surrender came at the cost of tens of millions of human lives. Today, it falls on us to do whatever it takes to make sure that the history won't repeat itself this time.

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