Abe's actions an inauspicious start to year

Japan's attitude toward its heinous World War II history has long caused tension with its two main neighbors, China and the Republic of Korea. And there has been no sign that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe intends to ease the tension in 2014; instead it looks like he intends to inflame it further.

On the first anniversary of his premiership on Dec 26, Abe chose to visit the Yasukuni Shrine, where 14 notorious Class-A WWII war criminals are enshrined. It was the first such visit by a sitting Japanese prime minister in seven years.

Then on the New Year's Day, Japanese Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Yoshitaka Shindo paid, what was probably, his fourth visit to the shrine in the past year.