Eighty years after Japan’s surrender in World War II, the ghosts of history are once again haunting Tokyo. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, already under fire for his growing overtures to Beijing, faces mounting pressure from all sides over the statement he is expected to issue marking the anniversary.
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Conservatives within his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) are urging him to stay silent on August 15, the date Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s surrender in 1945. Such a move, they argue, would align with the tone set by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2015.
Abe’s statement, while acknowledging Japan’s wartime aggression and expressing “deep repentance for the war,” also carried a message of defiance: “We must not let our children, grandchildren, and even further generations to come, who have nothing to do with that war, be predestined to apologise.”
For Abe, it was time to move on from the cyclical demands for apologies that have often defined Japan’s relations with its neighbours.
Since Ishiba became prime minister, he has shown a demonstrably more pro-China stance
But Ishiba’s challenge is more complex than simply following Abe’s script. Voices from the left are accusing him of cosying up to Beijing at the expense of Japan’s own security. Ishiba’s easing of visa rules for Chinese tourists, high-profile diplomatic exchanges – and even a proposed invitation for Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit Tokyo – have unnerved critics on both sides of the political spectrum.
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