Emperor Akihito expresses ‘deep remorse’ over war
Japan’s leader sends a ritual offering to Tokyo’s controversial Yasukuni Shrine but stays away in deference to ties with South Korea and China
Tokyo — Emperor Akihito, in his last appearance as reigning monarch at an annual ceremony marking Japan’s World War 2 surrender, expressed "deep remorse" on Wednesday over the conflict, while Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed never to repeat the horror of war. Early in the day, Abe sent a ritual offering to Tokyo’s controversial Yasukuni Shrine for Japan’s war dead but did not visit out of apparent consideration for ties with South Korea and China. Past visits by Japanese leaders to the shrine have outraged China and South Korea because it honours 14 Japanese wartime leaders convicted as war criminals by an allied tribunal, along with war dead. China’s relations with Japan have long been haunted by what Beijing sees as Tokyo’s failure to atone for its occupation of parts of China before and during World War 2, although ties have thawed recently. Japan occupied Korea from 1910 to 1945. A silver-haired Akihito, 84, who will abdicate next year, spoke at the memorial for war dead after a ...
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