Japan PM's message to warn against calamity of war, 80 yrs after WWII
Ishiba also told a parliamentary session that he recognizes the importance of sticking to the war anniversary statements issued by prime ministers on the 50th, 60th and 70th anniversaries. These statements have been scrutinized by other nations, particularly those like China and South Korea that suffered under Japanese aggression.
Ishiba's remark came as government sources said the prime minister is unlikely to express his views on the war anniversary on Aug. 15 but may do so later, potentially on Sept. 2, the date when Japan signed the instrument of surrender in 1945. He has already decided not to issue another war anniversary statement approved by the Cabinet.
"Whatever the format, I believe it is important to release something so as to avoid the fading (of World War II memories) and to never go to war again," Ishiba told a session of the Budget Committee of the House of Representatives.
He also said Japan must show "what we can do" to prevent another war, instead of "simply expressing thoughts," adding that he will make a decision by examining the past statements in detail.
After taking office last year, he expressed his wish to take a fresh look at the country's wartime history and draw lessons from it.
Ishiba is scheduled to attend a ceremony on Wednesday to mark the Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bombing of Hiroshima, western Japan, the government said. He will then travel to Nagasaki Prefecture in southwestern Japan for another memorial ceremony on Saturday, commemorating Nagasaki's devastation by an atomic bomb on Aug. 9, 1945.
On the 50th anniversary in 1995, then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, leader of a major left-leaning party, expressed "deep remorse" and offered his "heartfelt apology" for Japan causing damage and suffering to the people of many nations.
In 2015, then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a conservative, retained key phrases such as "aggression" and "colonial rule" from the statement and acknowledged Japan's past apologies without offering a new one of his own.
Some lawmakers within the LDP associated closely with Abe do not want Ishiba to issue a statement that could dilute the 2015 statement that they believe helped end the country's "apology diplomacy."
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