Japan remembered the end of World War II with official ceremonies that proclaimed the nation's commitment to peace, even as prominent lawmakers lined up to pay their respects at a shrine criticized as glorifying militarism.
At a memorial service for the more than 3 million Japanese who died in the war, which ended with Japan's surrender 58 years ago yesterday, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi voiced regret for the destruction inflicted by his country and vowed to uphold the tenets of pacifism in its postwar Constitution.
"During the war, Japan caused tremendous damage and suffering for the people of many countries, particularly Asian nations," Koizumi said. "On behalf of the people of Japan, I again express my profound remorse and sincerely mourn the victims."
The popular Japanese leader used virtually identical language in past speeches at the service, an event that brings together several thousand relatives of the war dead. Along with ceremonies to mark the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the service spotlights Japan's collective memory of eight years of total war that began for this nation in 1937 with a campaign to subjugate China and ended in 1945 with Japanese cities in rubble.
While telling his audience of mostly elderly Japanese, some in funeral black, that today's peaceful and prosperous Japan had been founded on the "ultimate sacrifice" made by those who lost their lives in the war, Koizumi promised that future generations would never again take up arms.
"Humbly reflecting on the past, I will uphold this nation's anti-war pledge and will make every effort to develop friendly relations with our neighbors," he said.
Koizumi was followed onto the chrysanthemum-decked stage at Budokan arena by Emperor Akihito, who delivered his own message of peace and reconciliation.
But every year that message competes for the world's attention with the sight of conservative lawmakers filing into a nearby Shinto shrine that honors Japan's fallen soldiers -- including convicted war criminals. The 124-year-old shrine also fans controversy because it was used during the war as a nationalist rallying point.
Prominent visitors to Yasukuni Shrine yesterday morning included several members of Koizumi's Cabinet. Ordinary worshippers also passed through its towering main gate.
"We cannot forget the price paid by the wartime generation. I'm hear to show my gratitude," 23-year-old medical student Hiroshi Matsuoka said.
Among Koizumi's top advisers to pay tribute were trade minister Takeo Hiranuma, disaster relief minister Yoshitada Konoike, public safety agency chief Sadakazu Tanigaki and agricultural minister Yoshiyuki Kamei, according to media reports.
THE ‘MONSTER’: The Philippines on Saturday sent a vessel to confront a 12,000-tonne Chinese ship that had entered its exclusive economic zone The Philippines yesterday said it deployed a coast guard ship to challenge Chinese patrol boats attempting to “alter the existing status quo” of the disputed South China Sea. Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela said Chinese patrol ships had this year come as close as 60 nautical miles (111km) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon. “Their goal is to normalize such deployments, and if these actions go unnoticed and unchallenged, it will enable them to alter the existing status quo,” he said in a statement. He later told reporters that Manila had deployed a coast guard ship to the area
A group of Uyghur men who were detained in Thailand more than one decade ago said that the Thai government is preparing to deport them to China, alarming activists and family members who say the men are at risk of abuse and torture if they are sent back. Forty-three Uyghur men held in Bangkok made a public appeal to halt what they called an imminent threat of deportation. “We could be imprisoned and we might even lose our lives,” the letter said. “We urgently appeal to all international organizations and countries concerned with human rights to intervene immediately to save us from
RISING TENSIONS: The nations’ three leaders discussed China’s ‘dangerous and unlawful behavior in the South China Sea,’ and agreed on the importance of continued coordination Japan, the Philippines and the US vowed to further deepen cooperation under a trilateral arrangement in the face of rising tensions in Asia’s waters, the three nations said following a call among their leaders. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and outgoing US President Joe Biden met via videoconference on Monday morning. Marcos’ communications office said the leaders “agreed to enhance and deepen economic, maritime and technology cooperation.” The call followed a first-of-its-kind summit meeting of Marcos, Biden and then-Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida in Washington in April last year that led to a vow to uphold international
US president-elect Donald Trump is not typically known for his calm or reserve, but in a craftsman’s workshop in rural China he sits in divine contemplation. Cross-legged with his eyes half-closed in a pose evoking the Buddha, this porcelain version of the divisive US leader-in-waiting is the work of designer and sculptor Hong Jinshi (洪金世). The Zen-like figures — which Hong sells for between 999 and 20,000 yuan (US$136 to US$2,728) depending on their size — first went viral in 2021 on the e-commerce platform Taobao, attracting national headlines. Ahead of the real-estate magnate’s inauguration for a second term on Monday next week,
RSS