Japan’s ex-leaders urge Abe to tell ‘truth’
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TWO former political leaders who made key apologies over Japan’s World War II atrocities said yesterday that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should not water down their words when he marks the 70th anniversary of the war’s end.
Japanese leaders’ war anniversary statements have always been closely watched, and this year’s is getting extra attention because it marks the 70th anniversary and because Abe is considered a revisionist.
Former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, who authored Japan’s landmark 1995 apology marking the 50th anniversary of the end of the war, advised that Abe “honestly spell out” the country’s wartime actions to address growing international concern that he might seek to revise history.
Yohei Kono, who as chief Cabinet secretary in 1993 apologized to victims of Japan’s wartime military sexual exploitation, said he wondered whether a new statement by Abe is even necessary.
A statement to mark the 70th anniversary, if issued, should not backpedal from any of the apologies that Abe promised to inherit from nearly a dozen past leaders, he said.
Murayama and Kono spoke to reporters during a rare joint appearance at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo.
The historic statements by the two men were highly regarded internationally as signs Japan had come to terms with its wartime past and they improved relations with its Asian neighbors. But both statements have become unpopular among Japanese conservatives who say the country should stop focusing on negative history to restore national pride.
Kono warned that any attempt to whitewash historical facts instead “hurts the Japanese people’s reputation.”
Since taking office in December 2012, Abe has said he would not necessarily follow the Murayama apology. He also has said there is no evidence that so-called “comfort women” were exploited through coercion by Japanese authorities, remarks seen by critics as undermining the Kono apology.
Mixed signals
Abe has given mixed signals as to how closely his upcoming statement will mirror Murayama’s apology. He is seen as avoiding the terms aggression, colonial rule and atrocities, including the sexual exploitation of “comfort women.”
Murayama and Kono said those were undeniable historical facts that must be remembered to maintain trust and confidence.
Abe has convened experts to advise him on what to say. In his past August 15 speeches, Abe omitted his predecessors’ references to the damage Japan inflicted on its Asian victims and apologies to them. He merely said Japan faces its past and keeps its peace pledges.
Liberals like Murayama and Kono want Abe to acknowledge Japan’s wartime aggression and colonial rule, while conservatives who support him have said such accounts are exaggerated.
Murayama said yesterday that the point is not for Abe to offer an empty apology, but to show the world that Japan’s leader has squarely faced the country’s wartime past and pursued its pacifist pledges.
“The international society is watching what (Abe) is really thinking. It is important to clear any doubts that he has raised overseas,” Murayama said.
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