Some U.S. military veterans are "angered" that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will address Congress on April 29, the birthday of wartime Emperor Hirohito, posthumously known as Emperor Showa, The Washington Times reported Wednesday.
For many World War II veterans who suffered torture and imprisonment in Japanese detention camps, "the wounds are still healing — and some may never heal," the newspaper quoted Jan Thompson, president of the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor Memorial Society as saying.
"The members of our organization are fully aware of the significance of the date chosen for Prime Minister Abe's address. The POWs all had to bow in the prison camps to honor the emperor on that date," Thompson said.
Congress gave no explanation as to why that date was picked, the paper said.
Separately, a legislative source last month quoted the veterans' group as saying Abe should only be invited to address Congress if he admits Japan's historical responsibility for its wartime conduct.