What are your thoughts on Kyuma's remarks?

We should look at Kyuma's remarks on two levels. One is a kind of level of analysis and the other level has to do with the Japanese people's historical identity. The United States had the weapon and had reason to use it. At the level of analysis, Kyuma was perhaps being realistic or truthful, or just looking at the facts as he understood them. Most American historians would agree with the position that American decision-makers at that time believed that the use of these weapons would probably save a large number of lives. That is actually what happened and is at the level of analysis.

But there is another level that is more powerful, that is historical identity. On this level, many Japanese people hold the idea that in an important sense they were the victims of World War II. They understand that their government and military did terrible things, especially in China. They know that in their minds and in their hearts. But they also believe that terrible things were done to them as well. Their fathers and grandfathers were forced to fight in the army against their will, and because of the military's decision, the power of the U.S. armed forces was brought to Japan, particularly the bombing campaign. These were very terrible. People who died or were wounded were truly victims. And this is part of the Japanese people's historical consciousness. And for Japanese people, for whom this is very important, they were offended by Mr. Kyuma's remarks. So they reacted.

As a Japanese government official, was it improper for Kyuma to make such remarks?

I don't think it was improper. It was just a mistake. It was what we call an error of judgment. Sometimes you make an error of judgment and you don't have to bear responsibility for it. Some Americans think that President Bush made an error of judgment in going to Iraq. But he had the authority to do so. I imagine that Kyuma wishes that he didn't make the remarks, but he did. He thought he was making historically correct remarks, but in a moral sense, they were improper. So he has to be responsible for them.

Frances Rosenbluth, Professor of Political Science at Yale University, who has a special interest in Japan

What's your take on Kyuma's remarks and their affect in Japan?

Mr. Kyuma's remarks were a classic example of putting one's foot in one's mouth. He is right, of course, that the United States would have continued to pound Japan with incendiary bombs and that the war may have taken longer to end, but the politically important point is that the atomic bomb is a qualitatively different weapon. Making nuclear weapons taboo is a useful way to protect humanity from monstrous conflicts with untold consequences.

Furthermore, the Japanese as the only victims of atomic weapons have a special aversion to the thought of nuclear weapons as tactical devices. Kyuma knew this, but he was not thinking about the reaction. Same with his earlier comments that the U.S. invasion of Iraq was a mistake. Many Americans agree with this, as do a majority of Japanese voters. But it was a politically clumsy statement for a representative of the Japanese Government, given its official position of support.

Zheng Donghui, a researcher on Japan at the China Institute of International Studies

What was the political motivation behind Kyuma's remarks?

Defense Minister Kyuma's remarks were attacked not only by common people and other political parties, but also by some members inside the LDP itself. Right after Kyuma made his improper remarks, the Abe administration tried to defend him, but the winds of domestic politics were so strong and changed so fast. The administration then realized it had to sacrifice Kyuma to save the LDP's image in order to win the upcoming upper house election on July 29.

However, Kyuma's remarks were not made offhandedly and without basis. Actually, there have been discussions in recent years about whether Japan should insist on or abolish its non-nuclear principles [of not possessing, developing or allowing nuclear bombs on Japanese soil] because of the changed world situation. We could consider Kyuma's remarks a test of the Japanese people's reaction on this issue. If they had accepted his remarks, the Japanese Government officially would have started a discussion to abolish its non-nuclear principles. Kyuma did not anticipate the result.

Japan and the United States never have common understandings on the atomic bomb explosions in Japan, and the disputes on this topic have lasted for decades. But due to the two countries' common interests, their ties will not be damaged by this.

(With Wang Yanjuan and Chen Wen reporting from New York City)