Japan marks 67th anniversary of end of World War II

Some Koreans cannot trust the sincerity of their words. It escapes me.

I hope one day Japan has the courage to finally resolve its problems with Asian countries so that every year the emperor doesn't have to apologize like this and instead focus on mourning Japanese victims of the war.

Take note far-right loonies.

I fear the scars from the very deep wounds Japan inflicted throughout Asia will never go away, no matter how much the Japanese try to ignore (and distort) the history.

It's a frickin war...there are bound to be casualties and other wounds inflicted...thus the meaning of war...their only mistake was attacking America and getting them involved...they should be apologizing to their own for this miscalculation and the resulting nuking of Hiroshima and Nagasaki...

Japan only feel sorry that they lost. Japan only grieve for their own victims.

The emperor seems like a decent guy, but the right-wing extremists will use him for their own gain.

Noda's words seem brave and humble to me. Hard to imagine a US president or UK prime minister apologising so wholeheartedly for, say, Vietnam or the firebombing of Dresden.

(I realise there are also plenty of right wing nutters here in Japan full of denial and hostility, which makes Noda's comments all the more notable)

Ash: "Some Koreans cannot trust the sincerity of their words. It escapes me."

Geez, with a post like that to start of the thread, is it any wonder? You take the words given by the Emperor and Noda and immediately use them to point the finger somewhere else.

I'm actually quite inspired by the words they have said -- shows there are people who seem to believe in contrition and making amends. I hope the nation can live by these words, and peace can prevail where it seems only hostility is on the rise.

I read some of the handwritten letters of the several young/teen-ager Kamikaze pilots (out of of more than 10,000) and as far as I undersand, many among them were forced and brainwashed to do such desperate suicide attempts, either by the Imperial family or by the military top brass.

There were also many Japanese soldiers scattered in Southeast Asia during the counter-attack of the US Forces and was forced to run for a while and look for food and to recover from their injuries. Many of these Japanese soldiers were charged as DESERTER and were shot and murdered right where they stood by the military tribunals of the Japanese Imperial Army.

I would like the imperial family and the government to apologize to their own young braved soldiers killed as suicide pilots and was murdered as deserter. I would like them to apologize officially for killing many fellow Japanese during the US forces landing in Okinawa.

Noda told the annual ceremony. “We deeply regret that.”

Big SIGH.... For Pete's sake, no, you don't regret it. Regret is saying the action was justified but the result was not ideal. War was not justified therefore the saying and using the "regret" will constantly mistranslated, and rightly so. It's the wrong word. Understand how you are speaking.

Shingai maybe but that can also be unexpected. It was unexpected that people would die in a war? It makes no sense either. What was the exact phrase used in Japanese by Noda?

Stop using regret. End its use and people will perhaps stop seeing it as a reason to continue the hate on Japan. They are saying regret because they don't want to pay anymore. That's over, don't worry about that. Just say sorry. Mean it with actions not just words. Mean it with anti discrimination laws. Mean it with anti denial laws like Germany. Mean it by allowing immigration into Japan. Mean it by showing it. Bowing doesn't work.

Yes AU it it true Japan even treated a LOT of its own very horribly in the 1930-40's

If the relationships between China, NK, SK, and Japan cannot be remade and forged in friendship and trust, over time the effects of various political posturing will be stronger than the will of peace between nations. The fact that recently Lee of SK was able to make use of hate for Japan is a good indication that doing nothing doesn't work. K-pop / J-pop isn't going to do it.

It's interesting that the anniversaries and this anniversary were not in many news outlets that I read. Maybe two. Japan is increasingly irrelevant but that is a choice that people make if nothing changes while the world does.

AU

yes I had also seen some documentaries on the Kamikaze treatments. One letter about a guy who knew it was completely stupid but couldn't go back to face his family about it so went anyway. The sheer futility of the situation was beyond the ability to stop it. Another about a pilot who survived and came back only to be sent back to die. Pretty heart wrenching stuff.

Lots of apologies are indeed needed but right now they can't see it.

If there is to be a word of regret and to use it properly, it would be in the horrendous loss of so much life for those that wanted to live so long but were forced to die for a war. In many ways all soldiers are so placed to end their lives if perhaps not to the same extent.

Let us create a world where we no longer accept those kinds of regrets, for any reason. That's a world worth creating, through doing and building understanding, not just ignoring history or not talking about it. That is how we all grow stronger from it and recover from deep depths of hatred.

I thank my grade 9 English teacher for her wise explanations for the European war all those years ago. I don't see why the lessons cannot be learned and applied in Asia.

It has to happen someday. Why not today?

Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine all the people Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will be as one

sf2k: "It has to happen someday. Why not today?"

That would require admission, and not just a statement that things were 'regrettable'. It would require they acknowledging that life is not just like a cherry blossom, but ever more so valuable. Ask a Japanese former general to admit as much and you'll be able to make wine from water. And even if he did, right wingers would say he suffers from a foggy memory that they, unborn at the time, seem to know all about.

Well at least Noda expressed his regrets. This is more than he did in betraying the DPJ pledge not to raise the consumption tax. We heard the mealy mouth regrets over the years and they do nothing to admit that the Imperial system under Hirohito was an inhuman colonialist and a murder monster.

This anniversary is not necessarily something to be celebrated.

sigh The arguments and wars between Japan, Korea, and China have been going on for a very long time. a lot of bad blood has accumulated as well as wounds, In Face Based cultures, that's a major sticking point. This is not going to go away no matter what Japan does. So really, what's the damned point

They offered prayers on this anniversary. They didn't apologize. They expressed regret that the actions of their fathers and grandfathers resulted in Japan being viewed as it is today. Nothing more, nothing less.

Japan has apologized repeatedly for their actions in the war, but apparently there are some who want Japan to apologize each week for the same thing, over and over.

This anniversary is not necessarily something to be celebrated.

Very true. That's why they're NOT celebrating it - only observing the anniversary with silent prayers. Did you see any matsuri booths set up?

Make a fuss, receive money from someone to shut up. Wait one year. Repeat.

With respect shinra25: their only mistake wasn't attacking The United States. There was also the untold misery and atrocities inflicted on China, Hong Kong, Burma, Malaysia, India, The Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and Korea. This was done under the dubious auspices of liberating Asia from western imperialism and has been described as an Asian Holocaust. Even today, the only Asian country that has significantly warm feelings toward Japan remains Taiwan.

End of WWII or more like a surrender

“During the war, Japan inflicted significant damage and pain on many countries, especially on people in Asian countries,” Noda told the annual ceremony. “We deeply regret that.”

Now, lay off our friggin' islands!

Noda, it should be apologize, not regret!!!

Is this capitulation day of Japan, or that day of the end of the WW2?

Unconditional Surrender Day is more like it.

Stop using regret. End its use and people will perhaps stop seeing it as a reason to continue the hate on Japan.

You do realise it is the translator who used the word regret, right? The Japanese prime minister spoke in Japanese.

War criminals are not condemned. Therefore, the words of regret and apologies are not sincere. There is no trust.

Noda told the annual ceremony. “We deeply regret that.”

“Recalling history, I profoundly hope that the suffering of war will never be repeated. I sincerely express mourning for those who lost their lives on the battlefields, and wish world peace and our country’s further development.”

This was yet again a golden opportunity for those, directly related to the leaders that caused so much pain and suffering, on so many people throughout all of Asian, to get on record saying how sorry they were... Instead, we get this 3rd party "Regret" like their son missed a day of cram school.

Regret " 後悔" and sorry are two very different words "申し訳ありません"

The defeat of Imperial Japan (a militarist dictatorship with fascist tendancies) was the birth of the new democratic Japan. While the memory of those who lost their lives (including Japanese soldiers) should be remembered, August 15th should be considered as a day of deliverance for Japanese people, not a day of sorrow.

Regret and sorry are two very different words

Show me where in his speech the PM used either of the Japanese you used there.

From what I have read on the apology statements front, appropriate set phrases for "deep regret" from Japanese government officials would include words such as 痛惜の念(を禁じえません), こころお詫び or the like. Koreans and others are asking that these translations be strengthened to 謝罪 (a wording which Kan already offered in 2010 on the 100 year anniversary of annexation).

""Show me where in his speech the PM used either of the Japanese you used there."

http://www.asahi.com/national/update/0815/TKY201208150181.html

@Daijoboots

Noda told the annual ceremony. “We deeply regret that.”

Read the article... You don't have to look any farther tan the top of the page...

btw: Quotations mean, these are their exact words. hence the quotation marks...

btw: Quotations mean, these are their exact words. hence the quotation marks...

What's you did was rely on AFP 's lazy English translation to your version of the Japanese. Hence, they are not "exact".

nigelboy, thanks for the link. Ch1n4Sailor, as I suspected, the PM did not use either of the Japanese words you did.

The choice of the word regret when rendering not only these comments into English leads to much venting by some in the English-speaking community, and not the actual words used by the person speaking.

Here is the "Address by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda at the Sixty-Seventh Memorial Ceremony for the War Dead". Provisional translation of considerably better quality and trustworthiness.

http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/noda/statement/201208/15sikiji_e.html

"During the last war, Japan caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly to those of Asian nations. I hereby express my feelings of profound remorse and sincere mourning for the victims of the war and their bereaved family members."

If the silver-tongued Noda truly wanted to convey "profound remorse" in the strongest possible terms he could certainly do many, many words better than 深く反省"