When Osaka Mayor and Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) co-leader Toru Hashimoto uttered his infamous remarks last May that Japan's wartime sex slave system was necessary at the time, he was roundly — and rightly — condemned at home and abroad.

It was clear then, and clearer today, that the real reason he got in trouble was because he was caught saying out loud what many Japanese of his generation, and not a few elders in the government — including, perhaps, at the highest levels — truly believe but refuse to say directly.

However, recent events have loosened the floodgates of candor. Today, Abe's government is locked in a tense standoff with South Korea over the "comfort women" issue. Every ambitious right-wing politician in Japan who can find a microphone is now repeating at full volume what Hashimoto said 10 months ago. Compared to the spit and venom coming out of sex slave deniers in Tokyo and elsewhere, Hashimoto's comments last year are increasingly sounding intelligent and restrained.