Abe’s demons

JAPAN’S imperious newspapers rarely issue apologies; two in six months is unheard of. In August, the liberal Asahi Shimbun admitted running stories based on discredited testimony by a former Japanese soldier who said he had corralled Korean women into wartime military brothels. Last week, the Asahi’s conservative archrival, Yomiuri Shimbun, said sorry to its 10m readers for using the term “sex slaves” in many articles about so-called comfort women since 1992. Such language was “inappropriate”, its editors said. This will inflame the issue.