Former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama is urging Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to uphold Japan's apology for its wartime aggression against Asian neighbors. He said to omit this from an upcoming statement reflecting on 70 years since the end of World War II would generate "skepticism" toward Japan.
Informed sources have said Abe is reluctant to include the word "apology" in his statement this week ahead of the Aug. 15 anniversary of the end of the war in 1945.
Japan's "aggression is a historical fact," Murayama said in an interview Friday. "It is natural to apologize if you did something wrong. Without words of apology, neighboring countries would harbor skepticism again."