In another indication of success for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in changing public sentiment, a Pew Research Center report shows that Japanese are much more optimistic about the economy than they were last year.

But the same survey, released Thursday, also shows Mr. Abe has been less successful in changing sentiment outside Japan, with an overwhelming majority of the nation's closest Asian neighbors viewing Tokyo negatively for a perceived lack of atonement for its past military aggression.

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