Former Japan Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama Dies at 101

Overview

• The Social Democratic Party said he died at a hospital in Oita, Kyushu, at age 101.
• He served as prime minister from 1994 to 1996, leading an unusual coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Socialist Party.
• On Aug. 15, 1995 he issued a nationally broadcast statement acknowledging Japan’s colonialism and aggression and expressing “deep remorse” and “sincere apologies.”
• The apology was noted across Asia and in the United States and later became a reference point repeated by subsequent Japanese leaders, even as nationalists objected.
• His tenure included the 1995 Kobe earthquake and the Tokyo subway sarin attack, and he faced criticism over a slow response to the quake.