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Shinzo Abe Echoes Japan’s Past World War II Apologies but Adds None of His Own Shinzo Abe Echoes Japan’s Past World War II Apologies but Adds None
(about 2 hours later)
TOKYO — Using the carefully chosen words that govern reckonings with Japan’s militarist past, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reiterated Japan’s official remorse for the suffering it inflicted during World War II on Friday, the 70th anniversary of the war’s end. TOKYO — Using the carefully chosen words that govern reckonings with Japan’s militarist past, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reiterated his country’s official remorse for the catastrophe of World War II on Friday, on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the war’s end.
In a nationally televised address, he described feelings of “profound grief” and offered “eternal, sincere condolences” for the dead. He said Japan had inflicted “immeasurable damage and suffering” when it “took the wrong course and advanced along the road to war.” In a nationally televised address, Mr. Abe described feelings of “profound grief” and offered “eternal, sincere condolences” for the dead. He said Japan had inflicted “immeasurable damage and suffering” when it “took the wrong course and advanced along the road to war.”
But in a potentially contentious break with previous expressions of contrition by Japanese leaders, Mr. Abe did not offer a new, personal apology of his own. But in a potentially contentious break with previous expressions of contrition by Japanese leaders, he did not offer a new apology of his own.
The decision, the product of months of deliberation, appeared calibrated to address lingering historical resentments in China and South Korea, the Asian nations that bore the brunt of Japan’s often brutal empire building in the first half of the 20th century. But it also drew a line under what Mr. Abe and many of his countrymen see as an endless and enfeebling cycle of apologies for decades-old offenses. The decision, a product of months of deliberation, appeared calibrated to draw a line under what Mr. Abe and many of his countrymen see as an endless and enfeebling cycle of apologies for decades-old offenses. But Mr. Abe sought to do so while still addressing lingering historical resentment in China and South Korea, nations that bore the brunt of Japan’s often brutal empire building in the first half of the 20th century.
“Japan has repeatedly expressed feelings of deep remorse and heartfelt apology for its actions during the war,” Mr. Abe said. “Such positions articulated by previous cabinets will remain unshakable into the future.”“Japan has repeatedly expressed feelings of deep remorse and heartfelt apology for its actions during the war,” Mr. Abe said. “Such positions articulated by previous cabinets will remain unshakable into the future.”
But he added that there was a limit to the number of times Japan can apologize. But he added that there was a limit to the number of times Japan could apologize.
“We must not let our children, grandchildren and even further generations to come, who have nothing to do with that war, be predestined to apologize,” Mr. Abe said. It is enough, he added, “to inherit the past, in all humbleness, and pass it on to the future.”“We must not let our children, grandchildren and even further generations to come, who have nothing to do with that war, be predestined to apologize,” Mr. Abe said. It is enough, he added, “to inherit the past, in all humbleness, and pass it on to the future.”
Mr. Abe has long sought to break with what conservatives call Japan’s “masochistic” approach to addressing history. Apologies dating to the 1990s have not prevented recurring feuds with China and South Korea, which have their own reasons, political analysts note, for keeping alive public animosity toward Japan. Mr. Abe has long sought to break with what conservatives call Japan’s “masochistic” approach to addressing history. Apologies dating to the 1990s have not prevented recurring feuds with China and South Korea, which have their own reasons, political analysts note, for keeping public animosity toward Japan alive.
Yet Mr. Abe has also sown doubts about his own commitment to the forthright reckoning with the past that he endorsed on Friday. He has appointed unapologetic revisionists to high-profile public posts, including at the national public broadcaster, NHK, and paid visits to the controversial Yasukuni shrine, where wartime Japanese leaders who were hung for war crimes are enshrined along with millions of fallen soldiers and sailors. Jennifer Lind, an expert on Asian history disputes at Dartmouth College, said Japan had acknowledged past wrongdoing more frequently and candidly than any other country. Mr. Abe, for all his flaws as a messenger, is “trying to bring what he sees as balance back to the historical discussion,” she said.
Jennifer Lind, an expert on Asia’s history disputes at Dartmouth College, said Japan had acknowledged past wrongdoings more frequently and candidly than any other country. Mr. Abe, for all his flaws as a messenger, is “trying to bring what he sees as balance back to the historical discussion,” she said. Yet Mr. Abe has also sown doubts about his commitment to the forthright reckoning with the past that he endorsed on Friday. He has appointed unapologetic revisionists to high-profile public posts, including at the national public broadcaster, NHK, and has paid visits to the Yasukuni shrine, where wartime Japanese leaders who were hanged for war crimes are enshrined along with millions of fallen soldiers and sailors.
In an initial commentary published online, China’s official Xinhua news agency said Mr. Abe’s speech “trod a fine line with linguistic tricks” and was insincere.In an initial commentary published online, China’s official Xinhua news agency said Mr. Abe’s speech “trod a fine line with linguistic tricks” and was insincere.
“Instead of offering an unambiguous apology, Abe’s statement is rife with rhetorical twists like ‘maintain our position of apology,’ dead giveaways of his deep-rooted historical revisionism, which has haunted Japan’s neighborhood relations,” it said.“Instead of offering an unambiguous apology, Abe’s statement is rife with rhetorical twists like ‘maintain our position of apology,’ dead giveaways of his deep-rooted historical revisionism, which has haunted Japan’s neighborhood relations,” it said.
Tomiichi Murayama, a former prime minister who delivered Japan’s landmark first war apology in 1995, on the 50th anniversary of Japan’s surrender at the war’s end, was also critical. Tomiichi Murayama, a former prime minister who delivered Japan’s landmark first war apology in 1995, on the 50th anniversary of Japan’s surrender, was also critical.
“He used flowery words and talked at length, but he didn’t make clear why he was doing it,” Mr. Murayama, 91, said on a news program on the Fuji TV network.“He used flowery words and talked at length, but he didn’t make clear why he was doing it,” Mr. Murayama, 91, said on a news program on the Fuji TV network.
Mr. Abe’s statement was longer than Mr. Murayama’s and another, similarly worded statement delivered by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on the 60th anniversary. Mr. Abe’s included context, including references to Western colonialism and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, that seemed intended to redress what some Japanese see as an unfairly narrow focus on their country’s misdeeds. Emperor Hirohito broadcast his surrender announcement at noon on Aug. 15, 1945, ending Japan’s four-year war with the United States and its much longer conflict in Asia.
He also drew parallels between history and the present day in ways that seemed likely to antagonize China, even if the absence of a personal apology did not. Mr. Abe’s statement included an oblique reference to women and girls exploited in Japanese military brothels. The Japanese right was particularly incensed by an apology in 1993 that acknowledged that many of these “comfort women” were coerced and that the Japanese state was to blame.
A reference in the statement to Japan’s past as a “challenger” to “international order” echoed rhetoric that Mr. Abe has often used to describe China, whose increasing willingness to assert its power in the region has included challenging Japanese control over islands in the East China Sea. “We must never forget that there were women behind the battlefields whose honor and dignity were severely injured,” Mr. Abe said.
Mr. Abe sharpened the reference further in response to questions from the media. He said Japan had practiced “aggression,” a term first used by Mr. Murayama that is disputed by Japanese rightists. Mr. Abe himself had previously questioned the labeling, but it has become too integral to Japan’s position to cut without being accused of revisionism. Along with “colonial rule,” “remorse” and “heartfelt apology,” it was widely seen as an unavoidable term.
“Ukraine, the South China Sea, the East China Sea — – no matter where in the world, attempts to change the status quo by force cannot be tolerated,” he said. Mr. Abe’s statement was longer than Mr. Murayama’s and a similarly worded statement delivered by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on the 60th anniversary. Mr. Abe’s included references to Western colonialism and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that seemed intended to redress what some Japanese see as an unfairly narrow focus on their country’s misdeeds.
Thomas Berger, a historian at Boston University, said Mr. Abe’s “sprawling, four-page history lesson” risked giving the impression that he was trying to dilute Japanese responsibility by portraying the war as a “kind of historical tsunami for which no one should be blamed.”
Dr. Berger said that while the statement would be unwelcome in China and South Korea, the amount of damage it might do to diplomatic relations was hard to predict. It is a particularly delicate time for China’s president, Xi Jinping, who is contending with a slowing economy and a plunge in the stock market.
“China needs Japanese investment in a Chinese economy that is sinking fast,” he said. But it may also seek a scapegoat. “Xi might be tempted to allow the venting of the righteous wrath of the Chinese people against the hated and unrepentant Japanese in order to divert public opinion from domestic problems,” Dr. Berger said.
Mr. Abe also drew parallels between history and the present day in ways that seemed likely to antagonize China, even if the absence of a personal apology did not.
A reference in his statement to Japan’s past as a “challenger” to “international order” echoed rhetoric that Mr. Abe has often used to describe China, whose increasing willingness to assert its power in the region has included challenging Japanese control over islands in the East China Sea.
Mr. Abe sharpened the reference further in response to questions from the news media.
“Ukraine, the South China Sea, the East China Sea — no matter where in the world, attempts to change the status quo by force cannot be tolerated,” he said.
“Transmitting the lessons of 70 years ago carries great meaning for the present day, not only for Japan but the world.”“Transmitting the lessons of 70 years ago carries great meaning for the present day, not only for Japan but the world.”