Japan's Nervous Neighbors

This month marks the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, when atom bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki drove Japan to accept defeat in history's bloodiest conflict. Japan has focused on peaceful economic development over the intervening six decades, and can take much of the credit for Asia's 20th century boom. But recent debate over issues such as Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, or reforms to its pacifist constitution to allow a standing army, has made some of its neighbors uneasy.

In a TIME/CNN poll conducted by market-research firm TNS in...