The thing is Japan has tried to hide the history and run from acknowledging what happened during WW2. There hasn't been open acknowledgement of it, so you don't get the pass of saying it happened a long time ago.

The fact they are trying to censor it and suppress it is a clear indication it should be given a memorial.

The war crimes the Japanese committed were as heinous, or more so than what the Nazis did. The rape of Nanking is a prime example.

They literally cut babies open so they could fit their dicks in them, raped and murdered for sport, throwing babies up and catching them on bayonets, raping women of all ages (from babies to very old). Raping pregnant women and then bayoneting them.

There were reports of two officers having a competition to see who could kill more civilians with their swords.

But after surrendering, instead of owning up to everything and teaching the next generation about what they did and why it was wrong, they pretended none of it happened. The history taught is very bared bones on the nasty details, glossing over anything related to war crimes.