Asia commemorated the 60th anniversary of Japan's World War II surrender yesterday by honoring the dead and searching for reconciliation, while Japan's leader tried to salve wounds by apologizing for the "great damages and pain" it inflicted on its neighbors.
With ceremonies and protests, the region memorialized the end to a conflict that killed millions of soldiers and civilians from the jungles of Burma to the glistening beaches of the Pacific and the sprawling cities of Japan and Korea.
Anger mixed with sorrow amid rekindled tension between Tokyo and the countries its Imperial Army invaded decades ago.
PHOTO: AP
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi expressed "deep reflections and heartfelt apology" for Tokyo's wartime colonization and pledged that his country would never forget the "terrible lessons" of the war, which ended Aug. 15, 1945.
"Our country has caused great damage and pain to people in many countries, especially our Asian neighbors, through colonization and invasion," Koizumi said in a statement. At a ceremony shortly thereafter, Koizumi and Emperor Akihito -- son of wartime Emperor Hirohito -- bowed before an alter of chrysanthemums at a nationally televised service for the nation's estimated 3 million war dead.
Japan's relations with some of its Asian neighbors are at the lowest point in years in part because of disputes about whether Japan has properly atoned for its past aggressions. The issue has contributed to opposition to Tokyo's bid for a permanent UN Security Council seat.
Fueling the grievances are Koizumi's controversial visits to Tokyo's Yasukuni shrine and his government's approval of history textbooks that critics say whitewash wartime atrocities such as the Rape of Nanking, in which Japanese troops massacred as many as 300,000 people while taking the Chinese city in 1937.
Tensions have also been stoked by disputes between Tokyo, Beijing, Taipei and Seoul over resource-rich islands off their coasts, and Japan's running argument with China over gas drilling in a contested area of the East China Sea. Concerns over communist North Korea's nuclear weapons program have also increased regional friction.
Protesters in Hong Kong, which Japan occupied from 1941-1945, marched on Tokyo's consulate yesterday, saying Japan had not sufficiently atoned for military aggression and chanting "Japan's hands are full of fresh blood." Scores of police meanwhile guarded Japan's Beijing embassy as China marked the anniversary demanding that Japanese leaders face up to suffering inflicted by their nation.
"Only with an honest attitude towards history can a nation win reconciliation and then integrate into the global community," the China Daily newspaper said. State television devoted the first 10 minutes of its midday news yesterday to war commemorations, showing battle scenes and the bodies of Chinese killed by Japanese troops.
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