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Japan Expresses Rare Remorse as Yasukuni Visits and China’s Victory Day Parade Heighten Regional Strains

Beijing’s archival disclosures combined with a planned Victory Day parade intensify diplomatic pressure on Tokyo’s cautious commemorations

ARCHIVO - Japoneses se arrodillan frente al Palacio Imperial de Tokio al momento en que el emperador Hirohito anuncia por radio la derrota de Japón en la Segunda Guerra Mundial, el 15 de agosto de 1945. (Kyodo New vía AP, archivo)
El primer ministro japonés Shigeru Ishiba, izquierda, camina para pronunciar un discurso al tiempo que el emperador Naruhito y la emperatriz Masako asisten a un servicio conmemorativo por el 80mo aniversario de la derrota de Japón en la Segunda Guerra Mundial, en el Nippon Budokan el viernes 15 de agosto de 2025, en Tokio. (AP Foto/Eugene Hoshiko)
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Overview

  • Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba became the first LDP leader since 2012 to use the word “remordimiento” in an August 15 memorial address.
  • Emperor Naruhito voiced “profundo remordimiento” and urged transmission of wartime lessons to younger generations without issuing an explicit apology to neighboring countries.
  • Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and other LDP lawmakers visited Yasukuni Shrine while Ishiba sent a ritual offering, triggering criticism from China and South Korea.
  • China has declassified over 40,000 wartime records and mounted exhibitions and films as it prepares a Sept. 3 military parade reportedly inviting President Putin.
  • More than half of participants in this year’s ceremony were born after 1945, spurring calls by Japanese leaders to preserve aging survivors’ testimonies amid rising regional frictions.