Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka will reiterate government's apology for Japan's wartime aggression against its Asian neighbors at a ceremony marking Saturday's 50th anniversary of the signing of the San Francisco peace treaty, ministry officials said Friday.
During the event at the San Francisco Opera House, Tanaka is expected to reaffirm Japan's feelings of "deep remorse and heartfelt apology," as expressed in a statement issued in 1995 by then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama.
Tanaka will also express Japan's appreciation for the role the United States played in helping Japan recover from the devastation of World War II and discuss how the peace treaty paved the way for peace and prosperity in the international community.
On Aug. 15, 1995, exactly 50 years after Japan surrendered at the end of World War II, Murayama apologized for Japan's past acts of aggression and colonialism against its Asian neighbors.