national

Emperor, empress arrive in Philippines to honor WWII dead

7 Comments

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© 2016 AFP

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

7 Comments
Login to comment

The Filipinos suffered terribly in WW2 an it is only right that the Emperor recognises this as he has. As noted in the article, both The Philippines and Japan are threatened by a belligerent and aggressive China, and it is in both countries interests to work together as allies. Addressing past wrongs is something necessary to build on this relationship.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

I hope that the emperor apologizes sincerely and profusely, which I expect he will, and graphically describes what happened in the Philoppines. That will blunt Abe's nationalist/romantic/white washed view of Japan's past.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress appear frail, devoted to duty expressing genuine “profound remorse”. 100,000 people tragically perished liberating Manila, I hope one day all Filipinos will accept His Majesty the Emperor Akihito, a man of honour, above the cynical world of politics, heartfelt apology on behalf of the people of Japan.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

I have a feeling the emperor cares more about this than Aquino himself.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

It is curious how both Abe and the Emperor makes general statements like "many lives were lost". Truth be told, most of those lives were civilians killed by rampaging Japanese soldiers going out in a blaze of glory at the end of the fighting. The IJA raised Manila and killed anyone in sight.

I have seen Japanese textbooks written with those kinds of general statements, i.e. "many people lost their lives in Nanjing," with no mention of who did the killing!

The comfort women will be kept in the background; the Philippines is too dependent on Japan's foreign aid to cause any embarrassment.

I have a hunch the Emperor can't say what he would really like to say. He is kept on a short rein by his handlers who are influenced by Abe's right-wing governance.

-1 ( +5 / -6 )

I have a hunch the Emperor can't say what he would really like to say. He is kept on a short rein by his handlers who are influenced by Abe's right-wing governance.

You might be right, but I hope that won't be the case

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I have a feeling the emperor cares more about this than Aquino himself.

Well that should be a matter of course since japan is DIRECTLY responsible for ALL the deaths in the Philippines from WWII so yeah the Emperor should care more, too bad abe doesn't!!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites