Japan PM voices remorse for WWII
No shrine visit: Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda bows at the altar during the memorial ceremony for the national war dead in Tokyo yesterday. Picture: AFP
Saturday, August 16, 2008
JAPAN'S Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda refused to join his predecessors in visiting a controversial war shrine here yesterday as he expressed his country's remorse for the pain it inflicted in World War II.
Known for his conciliatory views on Japan's wartime history, Fukuda marked the anniversary of its defeat in 1945 with a moment of silence in a nationally broadcast annual memorial service.
"The nation inflicted significant damage and pain on many countries, especially on people in Asian countries," Fukuda said at a ceremony attended by Emperor Akihito, whose father Hirohito surrendered exactly 63 years earlier.
"Here I express, on behalf of the nation, deep remorse and humble condolences for all of the people who fell victim."
Fukuda stayed away from the Yasukuni shrine, which honours 2.5 million Japanese war dead including 14 top war criminals from World War II. Instead, he offered flowers at a nearby secular cemetery to war dead. Fukuda's two predecessors, Junichiro Koizumi and Shinzo Abe, both went to the Yasukuni shrine Friday.
Koizumi's 2001-2006 premiership was beset by tension with China and South Korea, which accused him of condoning militarism by visiting the shrine every year.
Abe stayed away from Yasukuni after taking office as he worked to repair relations with neighbouring countries.
Passions about the war still run high in East Asia, with many Chinese and Koreans resentful over Japanese atrocities on their soil. Koreans celebrate "Liberation Day" on August 15.
In Seoul, President Lee Myung-bak, involved in a territorial dispute with Tokyo over a set of islands, urged Japan to "face up to history and refrain from making the foolish mistake of repeating the unfortunate past again today".
The North's official Korean Central News Agency blasted shrine visits by politicians as "a total negation of the Japanese history of aggression and crimes", warning that it would lead to "militarism and destruction and disgrace".
Fukuda has placed a priority on mending ties with neighbouring countries, although he did not stop three of his cabinet ministers from visiting the Yasukuni shrine.
The other two ministers to go were Justice Minister Okiharu Yasuoka and Farm Minister Seiichi Ota.Osamu Sakashita, a spokesman for Fukuda, said the government considered visits to the shrine "essentially a matter for the individual concerned." AFP
Known for his conciliatory views on Japan's wartime history, Fukuda marked the anniversary of its defeat in 1945 with a moment of silence in a nationally broadcast annual memorial service.
"The nation inflicted significant damage and pain on many countries, especially on people in Asian countries," Fukuda said at a ceremony attended by Emperor Akihito, whose father Hirohito surrendered exactly 63 years earlier.
"Here I express, on behalf of the nation, deep remorse and humble condolences for all of the people who fell victim."
Fukuda stayed away from the Yasukuni shrine, which honours 2.5 million Japanese war dead including 14 top war criminals from World War II. Instead, he offered flowers at a nearby secular cemetery to war dead. Fukuda's two predecessors, Junichiro Koizumi and Shinzo Abe, both went to the Yasukuni shrine Friday.
Koizumi's 2001-2006 premiership was beset by tension with China and South Korea, which accused him of condoning militarism by visiting the shrine every year.
Abe stayed away from Yasukuni after taking office as he worked to repair relations with neighbouring countries.
Passions about the war still run high in East Asia, with many Chinese and Koreans resentful over Japanese atrocities on their soil. Koreans celebrate "Liberation Day" on August 15.
In Seoul, President Lee Myung-bak, involved in a territorial dispute with Tokyo over a set of islands, urged Japan to "face up to history and refrain from making the foolish mistake of repeating the unfortunate past again today".
The North's official Korean Central News Agency blasted shrine visits by politicians as "a total negation of the Japanese history of aggression and crimes", warning that it would lead to "militarism and destruction and disgrace".
Fukuda has placed a priority on mending ties with neighbouring countries, although he did not stop three of his cabinet ministers from visiting the Yasukuni shrine.
The other two ministers to go were Justice Minister Okiharu Yasuoka and Farm Minister Seiichi Ota.Osamu Sakashita, a spokesman for Fukuda, said the government considered visits to the shrine "essentially a matter for the individual concerned." AFP
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