Japan lawmaker "corrects" controversial war memorial remarks
KYODO NEWS - 9 minutes ago - 19:04 | All, Japan
A hawkish lawmaker of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party said Friday he will "correct and delete" his controversial remarks that exhibits at a war memorial in Okinawa rewrote the history of one of the fiercest ground battles of World War II.
Shoji Nishida, a member of the House of Councillors, apologized to the people of Okinawa, saying his comments at a recent symposium were "extremely inappropriate."
During the symposium in Okinawa on Saturday, Nishida took issue with how wartime history is explained at the Himeyuri Peace Museum, which includes a cenotaph built in memory of over 200 female students and teachers who died during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945.
"I want to apologize to the people of Okinawa and correct and delete my remarks," Nishida told reporters in Tokyo.
Nishida's apology came after he initially resisted calls from people in Okinawa and lawmakers of his own party to retract the remarks.
Nishida said at the symposium that the exhibits at the museum in Itoman, Okinawa, seem to imply that "Japanese soldiers swarmed (into the area), leading the Himeyuri corps to die. Then, the U.S. troops came to set Okinawa free," prompting the museum to state that there were no such descriptions on its premises.
The fate of the Himeyuri student corps is remembered as one of the tragedies of the Battle of Okinawa, in which over 200,000 people, from both the Japanese and U.S. sides, died.
Of the corps, 123 girls and 13 teachers died, either in the crossfire between Japanese and U.S. troops or by suicide.
Related coverage:
Japan imperial couple, Princess Aiko to visit Okinawa WWII sites
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