Japan’s PM expresses ‘profound grief’ over loss of life in WW II

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday expressed “profound grief” for those who suffered at the hands of the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II, but stopped short of issuing a fresh apology of his own.

Abe has expressed “profound grief” for all who perished in World War II in a statement marking the 70th anniversary of the country’s surrender. Hatoyama’s words should prompt complex emotions in China, Zhang said, noting that like Korea, China is a fellow neighbor that was invaded by Japan.

The address has become customary for sitting prime ministers on every 10th anniversary, and was closely watched in Beijing and Seoul for any evidence the conservative leader would water down past apologies.

In a carefully calibrated statement, Mr Abe nodded toward a 1995 landmark government apology made by then prime minister Tomiichi Murayama, without explicitly repeating the same words personally.

— Elaine Kurtenbach has reported on Japan, China and the region for The Associated Press since 1987.

Japan should “face squarely the history of aggression and do serious soul searching about it, stick to the path of peaceful development, and take credible actions to win the trust of its neighbours in Asia and the global community”, she said.

“We want authenticity but he damaged his authenticity”, said Prof.

“Instead of offering an unambiguous apology, Abe’s statement is rife with rhetorical twists… dead giveaways of his deep-rooted historical revisionism, which has haunted Japan’s neighborhood relations”, the Xinhua article says.

Japan was not only a victim, but also perpetrator.

The 60-year-old has been sharply criticised by some for playing down Japan’s past and trying to expand the role of the military. Junichiro Koizumi used exactly the same wording a decade later, on the 60th anniversary of Japan’s surrender. South Korea-Japan relations are as tense as they have been in years, and Washington is working hard to align its two allies so they can stand united against the rise of China and the unpredictability of North Korea, he added. The statement contained similar key phrases such as “aggression”, “deep remorse” and “heartfelt apology”.

“He does a reasonable good job of taking responsibility for the war, but a very bad job of accepting Japan’s colonial rule”, said Andrew Gordon, a professor of history at Harvard University.

Japan’s neighbors were not impressed.

Abe noted that more than 80 percent of the country’s population was born after the war, and echoed growing though not universal sentiment in Japan that the country has apologized enough.

“This was a remarkable passage”, Lind said.

In another part of his speech, Abe seemed to suggest that the time for apologies might be drawing to a close.

But Tokyo has resisted direct compensation to the victims, prompting activists and former comfort women to say Japanese leaders are avoiding officially acknowledging what happened.

“We must never forget that there were women behind battlefields whose honor and dignity were severely injured”, the prime minister said. It remains unclear whether he will offer a clear apology for Japan’s wartime wrongdoings.

When speaking about China, Abe referred to “unbearable sufferings caused by the Japanese military” and said Tokyo “took the wrong course” in going to war.

Those tensions will be further inflamed Saturday, when scores of politicians will head to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which memorializes nearly 2.5 million Japanese who died in wars over the past 150 years.