Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga was again forced to go into damage control mode Monday after the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's own policy chief said on NHK the previous day that President Shinzo Abe disagreed with the findings of the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal.
The tribunal, officially called the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, was held in 1946 to try Japan's political and military leaders for war crimes after Japan's surrender in World War II. The tribunal found Tokyo guilty of waging wars of aggression upon China and other countries during its bid to colonize Asia.
Suga brushed aside the controversial remarks made by policy chief Sanae Takaichi as her "private opinions." During a Sunday debate program on NHK, Takaichi had said she believes Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has "different opinions" about the war from the viewpoint of the Tribunal.