Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Saturday that his country will “never repeat the tragedy of war” by paying homage to the sacrifices of the dead on the 75th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II.
“We will remain committed to this commitment,” Abe said, dressed in a mask in an official rite in Tokyo.He spoke of the pain inflicted on Japan and its people, but mentioned the suffering of Japan’s neighbors.
Fewer than six hundred people attended the occasion, which was reduced due to the coronavirus pandemic, compared to 6,000 last year.The masks were mandatory and you could not make a song of the national anthem.
Read more: Japan celebrates the anniversary of the end of World War II
In a tone more apologetic than Abe, Emperor Naruhito told the crowd that he deeply regretted the actions of his country’s army, its invasion of China and South Korea.
“As I reflect on our beyond and stay in my brain the emotions of deep remorse, I sincerely hope that the ravages of war will never return again,” said Naruhito, 60, who sought to fix the era of military aggression overseen by his grandfather.Hirohito.
Social estrangement and mask were at the small-scale memorial ceremony
Since taking over the workplace in 2012, Abe has avoided recognizing Japan’s wartime hostilities in its August 15 speeches, saying instead that long-term generations deserve not to be held accountable for mistakes.
On Saturday, he sent a ritual to Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine for the war dead, but did not stop at the site in person.The debatable sanctuary will pay three times to 2.46 million war dead, as well as 14 Japanese army leaders convicted of war criminals.through an allied court. For this reason, China and South Korea, Yasukuni, a symbol of aggression beyond Japan.Abe’s last stopover there in December 2013 sparked a foreign outcry.
While Abe stayed away, at least four of his cabinet ministers paid their respects, the first ministerial in four years.
Read more: Japan summons the ambassador of South Korea for the labor conflict of World War II
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South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman expressed “deep sadness and deep concern” over the scale of ministers in and said Japanese leaders will have to show their “deep regret through action.”
Japan’s Minister of Internal Affairs Sanae Takaichi, one of the ministers who gave prayers at the shrine, told reporters: “We know how we should pay tribute to those killed in the war.This deserves not to be a diplomatic problem.”
In a speech Saturday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Seoul was willing to communicate with Tokyo about long-standing disputes related to the war. The ties between the two countries have been strained due to a dispute over the payment of Koreans forced to paint in Japanese.factories and mines in times of war.
“Our government is in a position to face to face with the Japanese government at any time,” Moon said, bringing up the Yonhap news agency.
Hideki Tojo, Prime Minister of Japan from 19441 to 194th and Chief of Staff of the Imperial Japanese Army, accused of being guilty of the murder of four million Chinese and of conducting biological experiments with prisoners of war, after his country surrendered in 19four5, attempted suicide with a gun, but survived, confessed to the crimes and was hanged in 19four8.
The “expert in China” began his career in 1912 as a secret agent in Beijing.Doihara, who spoke fluent Mandarin and several Chinese dialects, founded the “Manchu Empire” with the last emperor of China, Puyi.It’s a puppet regime under Japanese control.1940, Doihara supported the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and was hanged eight years later.
Matsui was accused of being worried in the 1937 bloodbath in Nanjing, where another 300,000 people died in a week.Today, historians say that the resolution of carnage was taken through the imperial family, but the family was never accused.A court found Matsui guilty of being a Class B war criminal.He was executed in 1948.
In 1939, Kimura waged a brutal war opposed to the armed forces of the Chinese Communist Party in the east of the country.It has set up concentration camps in which thousands of other folks have died.In 1944, he sent to Burma where he have become commander of the army.He used prisoners of war to build a 415-kilometre railway linking Thailand to Burma.Some 13,000 Allied infantrymen have died. He hanged in 1948.
Hirota was prime minister of Japan until February 1937 and later became foreign minister, accused of sanctioning the Nanjing massacre.Hirota (seen here in the middle) is the only civilian politician to be hanged in 1948.
On September 18, 1931, Itagaki orchestrated a bomb attack on a railroad in northeastern Manchuria, Japan used this as a pretext to reclaim war against China.He then fought in North Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia until he surrendered in 1945.condemned for intensifying the war and hanged in 1948.
Since the outbreak of war, Muto has fought in China and was then convicted of participating in several atrocities, adding the Nanjing Massacre.According to the judges, Muto not only starved the prisoners of war, but also “tortured and murdered” them.
Under his leadership, Japan left the League of Nations after some member states accused Japan of starting the war opposed to China.Minister of Foreign Affairs of Matsuoka between 1940 and 1941 and one of the signatories of the tripartite pact between Japan, Nazi Germany and fascist Italy.In 1946 he died of tuberculosis before being convicted.
Admiral Marshal Osami Nagano, a supporter of the Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, ordered the attack on December 7, 1941.Twelve U.S. warships sank or were severely broken and more than 2,400 U.S. infantrymen were killed.Nagano died of pneumonia, in 1946 before he could be tried in Tokyo for war crimes.
He is the head of Japanese propaganda. Shiratori was Japan’s ambassador to Italy and lobbied for an alliance between his country, Nazi Germany, and fascist Italy. As an advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, he spread his fascist ideals “on the level and without.” Toshio sentenced to life imprisonment as a criminal where he died in 1949.
Hiranuma, japan’s prime minister from January to August 1939.During this time, Japan strengthened its ties with Germany and Italy.Kiichiro then looked like one of Emperor Hirohito’s closest advisers.He was sentenced to life in prison, but was released in 1952.He died the same year.
Koiso, Prime Minister of Japan between July 1944 and April 1945, and served in China and North Korea, was sentenced to life in prison despite the court’s ruling that he had not been directly involved in atrocities committed through the military.The judges discovered that he had been able to take them down.Koiso died of cancer in 1950 while serving his criminal sentence.
From 1939 to 1945, Umezu commanded the Guandong Army of 700,000 troops founded in northeast china.Although he opposed the Japanese in a time before the end of the war, Umezu (seen here in the front row) received the order of the Emperor of Signal the unconditional document on September 2, 1945.He was convicted of criminals in vie.et died in criminals in 1949.
Togo an expert in Germany.He spoke German, studied German philology, married a German woman and was appointed ambassador of Japan to Germany in 1937; He was appointed Foreign Minister in 1941 and back in 1945, when he pleaded with the Japanese government to surrender.and died in 1950 while in criminal.
Author: Hao Gui / gd
nm/aw (Reuters, AP, dpa)