Japan Torn On Day Recalling War’s End ‘Remorse,’ But No Apology; Veterans Seek National Shrine

Japanese held two starkly different ceremonies on the anniversary of the nation’s World War II surrender Friday: The government expressed remorse in one, while flag-waving veterans demanded national recognition in the other.

How Japan commemorates the day is watched closely by China, South Korea and other countries where anger over Japan’s brutality during the war remains intense.

This year, as in years past, Emperor Akihito presided over a solemn ceremony at the Budokan hall, an auditorium adorned with a wall of yellow chrysanthemums. In a somber speech, he expressed “deep sadness” for the lives that were lost in the war.

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, wearing formal mourning clothes, said Japan felt “deep remorse” about the war, but avoided a direct apology to Japan’s victims.

The war “caused tremendous suffering and sorrow not only in our country but also to peoples of many countries, especially those in Asia,” Hashimoto said.

The noon ceremony coincided with the moment on Aug. 15, 1945, when Akihito’s father, Hirohito, went on the radio to announce that Japan was surrendering.

The prime minister was conspicuously absent from observances held at the Yasukuni Shrine, known as a site of nationalistic and militaristic demonstrations during the war.

Hashimoto drew angry criticism by visiting the shrine in July 1996. And Japanese news media said he wanted to avoid stirring up more rancor now, especially from China, which he visits next month.

Yasukuni, dedicated to the country’s war dead, is controversial because those enshrined there include executed war criminals. The grounds include a war museum that houses a kamikaze plane.

Veterans and right-wing nationalists rallied at the shrine Friday, urging Japan to recognize the shrine as a national monument.

U.S. occupation forces prevented Japan from using it as a national shrine, so it is regarded as a private religious site.

That angers veterans such as Tadashi Yamada, 77, who said: “Every other country has a place where fallen soldiers are honored. It’s only natural that Japan should have such a national site too.”

In other parts of Asia, many people believe the Japanese government should pay direct reparations to surviving victims of wartime atrocities, including slave laborers in Japan’s mines and factories, casualties of chemical and germ warfare, and women forced to work in military brothels.

In Manila, about two dozen former wartime sex slaves dressed in black protested at the Japanese Embassy to coincide with the anniversary. They demanded government compensation and an apology.