Japan apologises for war

ASIA remembered the 60th anniversary of Japan’s Second World War surrender yesterday by honouring the dead and searching for reconciliation, while Japan’s leader tried to salve wounds by apologising for the “great damages and pain” it inflicted on its neighbours.

With ceremonies and protests, the region remembered the end to a conflict that killed millions from the jungles of Burma to the glistening beaches of the Pacific and the sprawling cities of Japan and Korea.

Anger mixed with sorrow amid rekindled tension between Tokyo and the countries it invaded decades ago.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi expressed “deep reflections and heartfelt sorrow” for Tokyo’s wartime actions.

“Our country has caused great damages and pain to people in many countries, especially our Asian neighbours, through colonisation and invasion,” he said.

At a ceremony, Koizumi and Emperor Akihito - son of wartime Emperor Hirohito - bowed before an alter of chrysanthemums at a nationally televised service for the nation’s estimated three million war dead.

Japan’s relations with its Asian neighbours are at the lowest in years, partly over disputes about if Japan has properly atoned for its past. This has contributed to opposition to Tokyo’s bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

Fuelling the grievances are Koizumi’s controversial visits to Tokyo’s Yasukuni war shrine and his government’s approval of history textbooks critics say whitewash wartime atrocities.

Tensions have also been stoked by disputes between Tokyo, Beijing, Taipei and Seoul over resource-rich islands off their coasts, and Japan’s running argument with China over gas drilling in a contested area of the East China Sea.

China’s Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment on Koizumi’s “heartfelt apology”.

North and South Korea used the anniversary to further thaw relations, setting up a video link for separated families.

The countries have been divided since the peninsula’s liberation from Japanese rule at the end of the war.