By Shin Kawashima
How to evaluate Abe’s August 15 statement on the 70th anniversary of Japan’s defeat in World War II.
This article is part of The Diplomat’s series exploring historical issues in Northeast Asia and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s statement on the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. See the rest of the series here.
The statement delivered on August 14 by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe — on the 70th anniversary of Japan’s defeat in World War II — produced a sensation at home and abroad. In Japan, it received a favorable reputation and the reported Cabinet approval rating, which had dropped due to the new security bills, recovered somewhat. Although some keep criticizing the prime minister for not apologizing sincerely and for the indirect wording used in the apology in the statement, the criticism that Abe is a revisionist will be diminished after this statement.
However, because this statement got serious political attention and was made as a result of international coordination, it could not avoid causing objections from both the political right and left. Although the government intended to show a new historical perspective as a consensus of Japanese society and close the historical problem, it became clear that historical views in Japan were divided.
The statement on the 70th anniversary of Japan’s defeat is based on past statement – for example the statement by then-Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama in 1995. In addition, the Abe statement also consulted the report of a panel commission that was composed of professors of history and political science as well as business leaders. The prime minister created this panel to reconsider “the history of the 20th century and Japan’s role and the world order in the 21st century.” It is also important that this statement referred to Abe’s speeches in recent years. Expressions like “repentance” or “remorse” would be incorporated according to the evaluation of previous speeches he made in the United States or Australia.
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