Japan marks 67th anniversary of WWII surrender, as frictions with neighbours mount

TOKYO – Japan marked the 67th anniversary of its World War II surrender with a sombre ceremony in the capital Wednesday, while renewed tension over territorial disputes and animosity over its wartime actions heated up in neighbouring countries.

Renewing Japan’s pledge to maintain its war-renouncing policy, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda mourned for the war dead and apologized to victims of Japanese wartime atrocities.

“We have caused tremendous damage and pain to many countries, particularly the Asian people, during the war. We deeply regret that and sincerely mourn for those who were sacrificed and their relatives,” Noda said. “We will not repeat the same mistake.”

Emperor Akihito, whose father made the unprecedented 1945 national radio address announcing the war could not be won, also offered prayers for the dead.

Simmering tensions between Japan and its neighbours have threatened to boil over in recent weeks.

Tokyo was angered by a recent visit by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to contested islands in the Sea of Japan, called Takeshima in Japanese and Dokdo in Korean. The visit was seen by many as an attempt by Lee to play up anti-Japan sentiment ahead of elections later this year.

A group of South Korean protesters were swimming across the sea to land on the island later Wednesday, while a shipload of activists from Hong Kong was heading to another set of disputed islands in the East China Sea claimed by Japan, China and Taiwan.

The Hong Kong boat was approaching the territorial waters around the islands, called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, as Japanese Coast Guard patrol vessels warned against entry. The Prime Minister’s Office also set up a taskforce in case of emergency.

In a ceremony celebrating Japan’s defeat, Lee on Wednesday condemned Japan for forcing thousands of Korean women into sexual slavery to Japanese soldiers during the war. The day before, Lee said that Japan’s emperor should apologize to Koreans who died while fighting for their liberation from Japan.

Noda called Lee’s remark “puzzling and regrettable.”

While Japan routinely apologizes for its wartime actions, its politicians often anger countries that bore the brunt of its colonial aggression by visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, a Japanese memorial honouring the war dead including top war criminals.

Two Japanese ministers from Noda’s Cabinet — Jin Matsubara, head of the National Public Safety Commission and Yuichiro Hata, the transport minister — and dozens of national lawmakers visited the war shrine on Wednesday.

Matsubara said he visited Yasukuni in his private capacity.

“I was only truthful to my own principle as a Japanese citizen,” he said.

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Associated Press writer Elaine Kurtenbach in Tokyo contributed to this report.