WWII: Japan PM voices ‘remorse’

Agencies Tokyo

Japan marked the 80th anniversary of its World War II surrender on Friday with PM Shigeru Ishiba expressing “remorse” over its role, using the term in commemorations for the first time since 2013. “We will never repeat the tragedy of the war. We will never go the wrong way,” Ishiba said. “Once again, we must deeply keep to our hearts the remorse and lesson from that war.”

Ishiba, noting Japan’s mostly postwar-born population “who do not know the war,” pledged to pass on “the memory of the tragedy of war and non-war determination thro­u­gh generations and stick to actions toward achieving a lasting peace.” About 4,500 officials and bereaved families observed a moment of silence at noon in Tokyo’s Budokan hall as the country paid tribute to over 3 million war dead amid growing concern over fading wartime memories.

Meanwhile, dozens of Japanese right-wing politicians and their supporters came to pray at the nearby Yasukuni Shrine, including Shinjiro Koizumi, the agriculture minister considered as a top candidate to replace the beleaguered PM.