List of war apology statements issued by Japan


This is a list of war apology statements issued by the state of Japan with regard to the war crimes committed by the Empire of Japan during World War II. The statements were made at and after the end of World War II in Asia, from the 1950s to the 2010s.

Background

At the end of the Pacific Theater of World War II, the Imperial Japanese government accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration. In 1945, the unconditional surrender of the Empire of Japan was formally confirmed aboard the Allied battleship, USS Missouri. Once the formal documents were signed, General Douglas MacArthur, representing the Allies, was named the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers in Japan.
Emperor Hirohito let it be known to General MacArthur that he was prepared to apologize formally to General MacArthur for Japan's actions during World War II—including an apology for the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor.

Apology rebuffed

In one version of the formal apology, Emperor Hirohito, the Japanese monarch, is reported to have said to General MacArthur: "I come before you to offer myself to the judgment of the powers you represent, as one to bear sole responsibility for every political and military decision made and action taken by my people in the conduct of the war."
In a second version of the formal apology, Patrick Lennox Tierney claims that he was an eyewitness when the Emperor came to the Allied Supreme Commander's headquarters to present this apology. Tierney was in his office on the fifth floor of the Dai-Ichi Insurance Building in Tokyo. This was the same floor where MacArthur's suite was situated. Tierney reported that when the emperor arrived, MacArthur refused to admit him or acknowledge him, and the pivotal moment passed.
Many years later, Tierney made an effort to explain his understanding of the significance of what he claimed he had personally witnessed: "Apology is a very important thing in Japan. It was the rudest, crudest, most uncalled for thing I have ever witnessed in my life." Whether true or not—issues which might have been addressed were allowed to remain open, and unanticipated consequences have unfolded across the decades since then.

History

1950s

Demands for an apology and compensation have been a recurring topic in Korean, Taiwanese, and Chinese politics. Western nations are also demanding long overdue actions from the Japanese government, most notably through the United States House of Representatives House Resolution 121 voted in 2007. Criticisms regarding the degree and formality of apology, issued as a statement or delivered person-to-person to the country addressed, and the perception by some that some apologies are later retracted or contradicted by statements or actions of Japan, among others.
In October 2006, Prime Minister Shinzō Abe's apology was followed on the same day by a group of 80 Japanese lawmakers' visit to the Yasukuni Shrine which enshrines more than 1,000 convicted war criminals. Two years after the apology, Shinzo Abe also denied that the Imperial Japanese military had forced comfort women into sexual slavery during World War II. In addition, Prime Minister Abe claimed that the Class A war criminals "are not war criminals under the laws of Japan". He also cast doubt on Murayama apology by saying, "The Abe Cabinet is not necessarily keeping to it" and by questioning the definition used in the apology by saying, "There is no definitive answer either in academia or in the international community on what constitutes aggression. Things that happen between countries appear different depending on which side you're looking from."
In 2010, one comfort woman from Taiwan stated, "It's unacceptable that the Japanese government still refuses to apologize for what it did." Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou also declared, "It is the responsibility of the Japanese government to admit its mistakes and apologize ... The battle is not over yet and it is regretful that the Japanese government still refuses to face its mistakes."
As of 2010, 24% of South Koreans still believe that Japan has never apologized for its colonial rule, while another 58% believe Japan has not apologized sufficiently.
Some in the Japanese government have expressed exasperation at what level of apology is enough. During an impending visit in 1990 to Japan by South Korean president Roh Tae Woo Japanese cabinet secretary Ozawa Ichiro reportedly said, "it is because we have reflected on the past that we cooperate with Korea economically. Is it really necessary to grovel on our hands and knees and prostrate ourselves any more than we already have?"
In 2013, some of the right-wing population of Japan accused South Korea of hypocrisy, because Japan had apologized and provided compensation for the sexual slavery it perpetrated during World War II yet South Korea has failed to address the Lai Đại Hàn, sexual slavery South Korea perpetrated during the Vietnam War.. Even though Korea has apologized multiple times including building multiple hospitals and South Korean presidents visiting Vietnam.
At the end of 2015, in response to the joint announcement by Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se to “finally and irreversibly” resolve the “comfort women” issue, some of the 46 remaining survivors expressed their discontent over the agreement. “It seems neither government cares about the victims. I don't count what they have agreed today. What we want is not monetary compensation but a legal one. We don’t want money. Those who commit crimes must take official, legal responsibility. I will fight until the day I die,” said survivor Lee Yong-soo. However, survivor Yu Hee-nam said, “I know the government has made efforts to resolve the issue within this year, so I’ll follow their decision.” But she also said the agreement was not satisfactory. "Money is not the issue. We've lived without human rights."

Forms of apology

Washington Coalition for Comfort Women Issues also rebuffed the use of a word Owabi, not Shazai, in those Japanese apologies. The coalition said, "the expression owabi in Japanese in most cases means a sense of apology only slightly weightier than an Excuse me."
In a paper published by Jeffrey Mok and Mitsuhiro Tokunaga, this is attributed to a mistranslation and misunderstanding of the word Owabi. "The use of owabi was clearly appropriate in its formality and degree of imposition. Both the authoritative dictionaries from Beijing Waiguoyu Xuexiao Japanese-Chinese Dictionary and Iwanami Japanese-Chinese Dictionary categorized owabi as a formal and weighty apologetic word. It was also commonly used as an official and formal way of apology and carried the same degree of regret as other formal forms of apologetic words such as shazai, shinsha and chinsha. It was also noted that shazai use was limited to print and was rare. Both owabi and chinsha （陳謝）were commonly used as official and formal apologetic expression and neither was considered weaker than the other."
Japanese government and Prime Ministers have used the expression "kokoro kara no owabi" that most closely translates to "from our heart, most sincere apologies" about this issue.