I view them through the lens of how they exist today, not decades before nearly everyone in the world was alive. I acknowledge their history but do not judge the current leaders or population by it.
Do you think that, given the opportunity, they would commit the same atrocities as their ancestors?
Can those traditionalist views be separated from those atrocities or do those views, given no restraint, inevitably lead to the atrocities? If they would, would that Japanese people allow them to stay in power if they undertook steps in that direction?
Important questions that would need answers before I would revert my opinion to one I might have held if alive 80 years ago.
Absolutely I think that they would commit the same atrocities if given the chance. Fortunately as you say their people hopefully don't agree.
That is what I was alluding to when I mentioned that they do not admit their wrongdoings even today. Disputes with e.g. South Korea prove that they still believe they own places they invaded during the war. Educating their citizens on the past and rebuilding trust with the countries who suffered under them would be signs they have changed as a government. Neither of those things take place.