August 15, 2020: At a memorial ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II and the war dead, Emperor Naruhito expressed "deep remorse" over Japan's wartime past and he stated "I earnestly hope that the ravages of war will never again be repeated".
Subject. Over the years Japanese political leaders have issued a number of general apologies for the Imperial Army's conduct during World War II. Despite these apologies, the Chinese people and Sino-Japanese relations have yet to be fully normalized, and tensions remain.
Upon the formal surrender of the Japanese in August 1945, Unit 731 was officially terminated. The Japanese government did not admit to the wrongdoing committed by Unit 731 until very recently. The government did not acknowledge the atrocity until 1988, and even then, they did not apologize for what had happened.
Payments of reparations started in 1955, lasted for 23 years and ended in 1977. For countries that renounced any reparations from Japan, it agreed to pay an indemnity and/or grants in accordance with bilateral agreements.
On 25 October 1966, Japan agreed to pay S$50 million in compensation, half of which was a grant and the rest as a loan. However, Japan did not make an official apology. These payments were also classified as a "gesture of atonement", and not "damages" or "reparations".
1957: Prime Minister Kishi Nobusuke said to the people of Australia: "It is my official duty, and my personal desire, to express to you and through you to the people of Australia, our heartfelt sorrow for what occurred in the war."
Japan accepts the judgments of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and of other Allied War Crimes Courts both within and outside Japan, and will carry out the sentences imposed thereby upon Japanese nationals imprisoned in Japan.
Japan's economic growth after the 1940s was based on unprecedented expansion of industrial production and the development of an enormous domestic market, as well as on an aggressive export trade policy.
In 1952, the London Agreement on German External Debts assessed the final reparation figure at $3 billion. Germany has yet to pay off its debts for World War II.
Second World War: fatalities per country 1939-1945. Estimates for the total death count of the Second World War generally range somewhere between 70 and 85 million people. The Soviet Union suffered the highest number of fatalities of any single nation, with estimates mostly falling between 22 and 27 million deaths.
Some Japanese think that the Nanjing Massacre was committed by people before them, and later generations do not have to bear the blame. They think that denying or erasing the history of the Nanjing Massacre helps maintain Japan's dignity, while acknowledging and apologizing for it is an action of "self-abuse."
The Allies punished Japan for its past militarism and expansion by convening war crimes trials in Tokyo. At the same time, SCAP dismantled the Japanese Army and banned former military officers from taking roles of political leadership in the new government.
World War II is a significant event in Japanese history that is covered in the curriculum of junior high and high schools. Students learn about the causes, course, and consequences of the war. They also study Japan's role in the conflict and its relations with other countries involved.
One of the biggest mistakes the Japanese made was not destroying the smallest American ships in Pearl: our submarines. They survived and put to sea to destroy more Japanese tonnage during the war than the Americans lost at Pearl Harbor. And the biggest mistake of all? Underestimating the American public.
Japan on the defensive
Many in government realized that the war was lost, but none had a program for ending the war that was acceptable to the military. There were also grave problems in breaking the news to the Japanese people, who had been told only of victories.
At least 12,500 British sailors and 7,500 Australians were murdered. The Japanese Navy sank Allied merchant and Red Cross vessels, then murdered the survivors floating in the sea or in lifeboats. During Naval landing parties, the Japanese Navy rounded up, raped, then massacred civilians.
The case of debts arising from World War II is somewhat less complicated. At this time only four countries, discussed below, owe the U.S. government debts of any size arising from World War II programs to aid our allies. Other countries have paid their debts in full.
After World War II both West Germany and East Germany were obliged to pay war reparations to the Allied governments, according to the Potsdam Conference. Other Axis nations were obliged to pay war reparations according to the Paris Peace Treaties, 1947.
In 1995, following reunification, Germany began making the final payments towards the loans. A final installment of US$94 million was made on 3 October 2010, settling German loan debts in regard to reparations.
The official English translation of the article is: Article 9. Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.
After the second atomic bomb was dropped, Japan surrendered and left a large mess to clean up throughout the Pacific theater. To help aid in the process, the United States set up a form of government in Hiroshima to help rebuild the city and give jobs to the people who were struggling to find work.
The first official Japanese economic white paper, published in 1956, declared that the “postwar era” was over. Devastated Japan now finally successfully recovered by 1955. As can be seen in this graph, Japan's per capita GDP, which had fallen to half the pre-war level, returned to the pre-war level by 1955.
War crimes trials, in which Japanese guards were tried for acts of brutality, were held throughout south-east Asia. In Australian trials, 922 men were tried and 641 were found guilty. Of 148 sentenced to death, 137 were actually executed.
Legally speaking, however, under Article 9 of its constitution, Japan is prohibited from conducting or aiding in the act of war, which includes sending troops and weapons to other countries in conflict.
Constitutional limitations
Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution prohibits Japan from establishing a military or solving international conflicts through violence. However, there has been widespread public debate since 2000 about the possibility of reducing or deleting Article 9 from the constitution.