Conservative LDP lawmakers urge govt to skip WWII review

The group, led by House of Councillors lawmaker Shigeharu Aoyama, submitted the written request at a meeting with Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi.

The move came as Ishiba hopes to release a message based on the results of the review this August, when the country marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the war.

Hayashi said at the meeting that nothing has been decided about a message for the 80th war-end anniversary. But at a press conference later in the day, the top government spokesman said, "The Ishiba cabinet has taken over the position of previous cabinets regarding views on history as a whole, and will continue to do so."

In the request, the group criticized then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama's statement expressing "deep remorse" and "heartfelt apology" for Japan's past colonial rule on the occasion of the 50th war-end anniversary in 1995, claiming that it unfairly tarnished Japan's dignity and damaged the country's national interests.

The group noted that Japan's diplomacy of apologizing for its past ended with then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's statement for the 70th anniversary in 2015, and added that such a serious matter as a review of the war cannot be done in just a few months.

Ishiba has long expressed a willingness to examine the circumstances that led to the war in order to prevent a war from happening again. In the run-up to the 80th anniversary on Aug. 15, he plans to express his views at a press conference or other occasions, but is likely to refrain from releasing a cabinet-approved statement to avoid rekindling historical issues.

For the review, the government was expected to begin hearings with relevant experts in April, but this has been delayed, apparently due to its response to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and other issues.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]