Seventy years later, Japan still grapples with the legacy of World War II

The World
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visits a Tokyo shrine for war dead

Friday marks the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Americans remember August 14 as the day Allied forces achieved victory in Japan.

But in Japan, the anniversary — observed on August 15 because of the time difference — is a bit more complicated. Every year, leaders deliver solemn speeches commemorating the event. This year, there are also protests.

Tokyo-based reporter Naomi Gingold says that demonstrators called on Prime Minister Shinzō Abe to follow in the footsteps of past prime ministers. Traditionally, Japanese leaders acknowledge and apologize for the country’s aggression in World War II.

“Until recently, it didn’t look like Abe was going to do that,” says Gingold. “It seemed like he was going to maybe just express remorse for the war, but not an apology.”

This might sound like little more than semantics. But neighboring countries like China and South Korea would disagree. There, the memories of occupation are very much alive.

In Seoul Wednesday, demonstrators demanded that Japan apologize and pay reparations for forcing thousands of women — “so-called “comfort women” — to work in wartime brothels. One elderly man even set himself on fire in front of the Japanese embassy.

Gingold says that if Abe does avoid words like ‘aggression’ and ‘apology’ in his statement, “that would really set off Japan’s neighbors, and also be a big deal here at home.”

This week’s controversy comes in the wake of another recent challenge to Abe’s politics. In July, the prime minister helped enact two laws that expand the authority of Japan’s military.

The new laws marked a shift from Japan’s postwar posture. In 1947, under heavy pressure from the United States, Japan adopted a constitution that severely limited its military forces.

“The constitution, as it is written, actually doesn’t even allow for a self-defense force,” says Gingold. Only after a re-interpretation of the law were self-defense forces allowed.

Abe is part of a right-leaning movement that thinks those rules are still too harsh, says Gingold. “That group has kind of always viewed it as this historic injustice that Japan doesn’t have an army.”

His critics will find out Friday if their protests have had any impact.

Sign up for our daily newsletter

Sign up for The Top of the World, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.