THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
August 15, 2025 at 18:02 JST
The word “remorse” appeared for the first time in 13 years in the prime minister’s address at an annual memorial service to mark the end of World War II.
“Today, the vast majority of our population belongs to generations that have never experienced war,” Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said at the National Memorial Ceremony for the War Dead held at Nippon Budokan hall in Tokyo on Aug. 15. “We will never repeat the ravages of war. We will never again stray from the right path.”
He went on to emphasize, “Now more than ever, we must engrave deeply in our hearts the remorse for and lessons from that war.”
The language reflects Ishiba’s view that it is only by reflecting on the war that another one can be prevented, according to a senior government official.
The term “remorse” was not used by Shinzo Abe when he delivered the prime minister’s address in 2013 after the Liberal Democratic Party returned to power.
Instead, Abe used “engraving the lessons of history deeply in our hearts” and similar expressions.
Abe’s stance was followed by his successors Yoshihide Suga and Fumio Kishida.
In 1993, Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa offered “condolences” to victims throughout Asia in his address at the memorial ceremony.
The following year, Tomiichi Murayama acknowledged Japan’s responsibility for its wartime aggression, using the phrase “deep remorse.”
Successive prime ministers followed in line until Abe broke from that tradition.
In his address, Ishiba also said he will pass down the “resolute pledge never to wage war” across generations.
While past prime ministers had referred to a “promise not to wage war,” the phrase was dropped after Abe returned as prime minister for a second time.
Since 2015, “We will never repeat the ravages of war” and similar expressions have been used instead.
“The phrase ‘ravages of war’ describes the consequences,” said an aide to Ishiba. “The prime minister used the ‘resolute pledge of no war’ to emphasize that war itself must not be initiated.”
In his speech, Emperor Naruhito reiterated “the feelings of deep remorse,” a phrase used in his past addresses at the annual ceremony.
“I earnestly hope that the ravages of war will never again be repeated,” he said.
Naruhito expressed his hope that people will “continue to pass down the memories of the sufferings endured during and after the war” in pursuing peace. It was the first time for him to use that wording.
In his speech, Hajime Eda, representing the families of people killed in the war, spoke about the role of Japan, which “experienced the harshness of the postwar era.”
“Now more than ever, Japan must appeal to the world about the futility of conflict, the difficulty of reconstruction and the preciousness of peace,” said Eda, 82.
When the war ended, Eda’s father, who was 31, was in Korea. But he died when the repatriation ship he boarded struck a mine in the Korea Strait and sank.
“My father survived the war and looked forward to a future filled with dreams and hopes alongside his family. The depth of his regret is beyond measure,” Eda said.
According to the welfare ministry, 1,826, or 53.2 percent, of the bereaved family members scheduled to attend the ceremony were born after the war and are under 80 years old, accounting for more than half of the total for the first time.
The oldest individual was a 98-year-old man.
This year, no spouses of the war dead were scheduled to attend for the first time since 2021, when the novel coronavirus pandemic was raging.
The number of spouses present dropped from 668 in 2000 to 191 in 2005 and 14 in 2015.
Parents of the war dead last attended the ceremony in 2010.
In contrast, 1,304 children of the war dead were scheduled to attend, accounting for 38 percent, the largest group. They were followed by 817 nephews and nieces, or 23.8 percent.
Eighty-three individuals under the age of 18 were scheduled to attend.
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Participants observe a silent prayer at the National Memorial Ceremony for the War Dead at Nippon Budokan hall in Tokyo at noon on Aug. 15. (Hikaru Uchida)
