Japan on Tuesday marked the 78th anniversary of its surrender in World War II, three months after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pitched his vision of a "world without nuclear weapons" at the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima.
Kishida stated Japan's opposition to war in his speech at the annual ceremony in Tokyo amid lingering fears that Russia might use nuclear weapons in its war in Ukraine.
"Under the banner of proactive contribution to peace, Japan is determined to join forces with the international community and do its utmost to resolve the various challenges facing the world," he said.
The government-sponsored ceremony was held to mourn about 2.3 million military personnel and 800,000 civilians who perished in the war on the Japanese side. Emperor Naruhito also attended the event.
The ceremony was held on a smaller scale for the fourth consecutive year to prevent coronavirus infections. About 1,900 people attended it at the Nippon Budokan arena, compared with 1,000 last year.
The memorial day coincided with a typhoon hitting western and central Japan, meaning relatives of the war dead in affected areas had to cancel traveling to Tokyo due to public transport disruptions.
In the speech, Kishida did not refer to his vision of a nuclear-weapons-free world that he pitched at the G-7 summit in May. The summit was held in his home constituency of Hiroshima, which was devastated by a U.S. atomic bomb in August 1945.
Kishida, a liberal-leaning member of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party, also made no mention of Japan's wartime aggression in Asia, following the recent precedent set by his two immediate predecessors Yoshihide Suga and Shinzo Abe.
Meanwhile, Emperor Naruhito expressed his "deep remorse," as he has done on occasion since ascending the throne in May 2019.
"Reflecting on our past and bearing in mind the feelings of deep remorse, I earnestly hope that the ravages of war will never again be repeated," the emperor said at the ceremony.
Japanese leaders had mentioned the country's aggression and remorse at the ceremony until Abe, who pledged instead that Japan would contribute to world peace. Suga essentially followed the line of Japan's longest-serving premier.
Abe was prime minister for one year from 2006 and then again from 2012 until 2020. He was assassinated by a lone gunman during an election campaign speech in July 2022 after stepping down as prime minister.
A moment of silence was observed at noon for the war dead, including those killed in the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the other city attacked with a U.S. atomic bomb.
Teruo Yokota, the 83-year-old representative of relatives of the war dead, said in a speech, "Wars continue to ravage the world, claiming many precious lives. Our country's role in achieving peace is not small."
With relatives of the war dead who participate in the annual ceremony aging, the government implemented COVID-19 preventive steps such as maintaining an adequate distance between individuals, the welfare ministry said.
"There were people who fought for their lives. I have a renewed sense of appreciation for peace," said Katsuji Yakushiji, who lost his elder brother in Papua New Guinea during the war.
Yakushiji, 78, was among those who visited Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery in the capital where the remains of around 370,000 unidentified soldiers and citizens are interred.
Junichi Natsume, 72, brought his 11-year-old granddaughter Hinako to the cemetery, and said, "I wanted her to see a place to think about the war."
Hinako noted, "There was nothing good for Japan waging the war. I hope the war between Russia and Ukraine ends soon."
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