Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara (center) speaks to members of the media after offering prayers for the war dead at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Japan, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. The country marks the 79th anniversary of its defeat in World War II. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
By MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida vowed to step up his country’s efforts to defend a rules-based international order in a peace pledge he made Thursday on the 79th anniversary of Japan’s defeat in World War II.
“We will never repeat the tragedy of war again” and will uphold the country’s post-war pacifist resolve, he said at a ceremony in the Budokan Hall.
“In a world where tragic conflicts continue to arise, Japan will continue its efforts to maintain and strengthen a rules-based, free and open international order.” and strive to solve difficult global problems, Kishida said.
Kishida pointed out that more than three million Japanese were killed in the war. He also spoke of the destruction in bloody ground battles on Japan’s southern island of Okinawa, firebombings across Japan, and the atomic attacks on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. But he made no mention of, or apologies for, Japanese aggression across Asia and the millions of lives lost there.
The omission follows a precedent set by then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in his 2013 speech, which critics say is a whitewashing of Japan’s wartime atrocities.
Earlier Thursday, three of Kishida’s ministers, including Defense Minister Minoru Kihara, prayed at the Yasukuni Shrine, which is seen by its Asian neighbors as a symbol of militarism.
The controversial shrine is dedicated to convicted war criminals who are among the approximately 2.5 million war dead. Victims of Japanese aggression, especially China and Korea, view visits to the shrine as a sign of a lack of remorse, and visits by defense officials are considered particularly controversial.
Kihara is the first serving defense chief to pray at the shrine on the anniversary since then-Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi visited in 2021.
“I expressed my sincere condolences and respect to those who sacrificed their precious lives in the war,” Kihara told reporters he had paid tribute as a private citizen. Asked about possible impacts on relations with Seoul, he said he would continue his efforts to strengthen ties with South Korea.
Kishida refrained from praying at the Yasukuni Shrine, just a block away, and instead sent a religious ornament.
The Asian neighbors criticized the ministers’ visit to Yasukuni on Thursday.
In a written statement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian described the visits of Japanese politicians to Yasukuni as “wrong attitude to historical questions.”
“For Japan, confronting the history of aggression and thoroughly reflecting on it is an essential prerequisite for building and developing friendship and cooperation with its Asian neighbours after the Second World War,” Lin called on Japan to also “make a clear break with militarism, continue on the path of peaceful development and take concrete measures to win the trust of its Asian neighbours and the international community.”
In Seoul, the South Korean Foreign Ministry issued a statement “deep disappointment and regret” about the ministers’ visits to the Shrine and said: “Our government calls on Japan’s responsible politicians to face up to history and show through their actions a humble confrontation and genuine remorse for the past. We emphasize once again that this would be an important basis for the development of future-oriented Korean-Japanese relations.”
Emperor Naruhito, who also attended the ceremony, reiterated his “deep remorse” about Japan’s actions during the war fought in the name of his grandfather, the wartime emperor Hirohito.
Kishida accelerated Japan’s military buildup and spending as the country continues to deepen military cooperation with the United States and its Indo-Pacific partners in the face of growing threats from China and North Korea.
Kishida, who took office in 2021, announced on Wednesday that he plans to step down after the ruling party’s leadership election in September.
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Associated Press video journalist Mayuko Ono and writers Ken Moritsugu in Beijing and Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, contributed.
