Japan’s Abe renews pledge of nuclear weapons free Japan at Nagasaki memorial

Abe repeated on Thursday, the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, that he upheld previous statements on the war, which include a 1995 “heartfelt apology” by then-premier Tomiichi Murayama.

Kishida replied that he does not know the details of the statement as it will be delivered by the prime minister, but believes it will reaffirm Japan‘s regret over the war and intention to remain a peaceful nation, the official said. “It is important for Japan to continue engaging in steady dialogue with China and (South) Korea towards reconciliation, while, at the same time, communicating with Southeast Asian countries with a sense of humility, without forgetting about the past”.

This week, an advisory panel on Abe’s war-anniversary statement released a report that made no mention of a need for Abe to make a fresh apology for the country’s imperialistic past, though it took note of the country’s “aggression” and “colonial rule”. “Not giving an apology for the past is an expression of Japan’s will to repeat its imperialistic ways”.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (right) receives a report from Taizo Nishimuro, Chairman of the government’s advisory panel on the history of the 20th century and Japan’s role and the world order in the 21st century at Abe’s office in Tokyo yesterday.

Mr Abe’s remarks are being closely watched by China and South Korea, where bitter memories of Japan’s wartime occupation and colonisation run deep, and by Tokyo’s close ally Washington.

The report said Japan has come a long way toward reconciliation with its Asian victims as well as its former enemies.

The Advisory Panel is unexpectedly critical of Japan’s conduct in the 1930s and 1940s, condemning Japan’s “reckless war” and concluding, “it is inaccurate to claim that Japan fought to liberate Asia as a matter of national policy”.

First, the report unambiguously refers to Japan’s behavior before and during World War II-especially in Asia-as “aggression”.

The nationalist leader, whose government has pushed through controversial reforms to expand the role of Japan’s military, also said he would follow previous explicit prime ministerial apologies over the country’s past “as a whole”.

The report touched on Japan’s harsh colonization of Korea very lightly, and it called on South Korea to cooperate in efforts toward reconciliation, saying Seoul’s often emotional responses have hampered reconciliatory moves. Japan finds itself isolated in East Asia over this history of colonial rule and imperial aggression and there are concerns among Japan’s neighbors that Abe’s rigid revisionist agenda will lead him to downplay Japan’s misdeeds. If the upcoming statement strongly reflects “Abe colors”, it is expected to prompt opposition from Komeito.

The statement said the panel’s report, which was submitted to Abe on the same day, “goes against the official pledge of the Japanese government to carry on the historical understanding of past Cabinets”.

Yukio Okamoto, president of Okamoto Associates Inc. Some of the members, including Kitaoka, who is president of the worldwide University of Japan, are academics.