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On Saturday, Abe sent a ritual cash offering to Yasukuni Shrine for war dead but did not visit the shrine, seen in China and South Korea as a symbol of Tokyo’s wartime militarism.

In a 25-minute speech which was broadcast live on Friday, the nationalist Abe acknowledged Japan inflicted “immeasurable damage and suffering” on innocent people during its invasion and occupation of East Asia during and before World War Two.

Japan marked 70 years on Saturday since the end of World War Two but faced criticism from South Korea and China, which accused it of failing to properly atone for its actions during the war.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday, the day marking the 70th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II, sent a ritual offering to the notorious Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which honors Japan’s war dead, including 14 Class-A convicted criminals of WWII.

But his remarks were an unusual addition to the short and highly ritualized statement that he delivers each year at the memorial ceremony. It was scary. As a young man I didn’t think I would die.

China’s foreign ministry voiced its opposition to Saturday’s visits in a statement which said they demonstrated “Japan’s erroneous attitudes toward the historical issues”.

But the prime minister also said that Japan must not let its future generations “be predestined to apologize”.

The commentary said descendants of any country in the world must inherit their predecessors’ past attainments along with responsibilities brought by their forebears’ prior crimes. At the last two ceremonies, he also did not pledge that Japan would never go to war....

Veterans and former prisoners of war will be joined later by the Royal Family at events commemorating the 70th anniversary of VJ Day. Veterans and former prisoners of war will also be present, with the Prime Minister and and other dignitaries.

Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe had the opportunity to continue along the same path as his predecessor, Tomiichi Murayama and apologize for Japan’s past aggression, however, those that had waited with bated breath for Abe’s statement on Friday, a day before the...

Queen Elizabeth II led ceremonies in Britain on Saturday marking the 70th anniversary of the victory over Japan during World War II.

For more than a century, North Korea has followed Japan’s time zone, which set the local time nine hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.

According to state news agency KCNA, North Korea will set its clock back by 30 minutes to “Pyongyang time” on August 15.

South Korea has ramped up border security in the wake of the blasts and – after a break of more than a decade – resumed the broadcast of propaganda messages into the North, using batteries of powerful loudspeakers set up at several sites along the border.

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.