Japan marked on Thursday the 79th anniversary of its surrender in World War II, with a memorial to mourn the war dead held without COVID-related restrictions for the first time in five years.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, along with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and 4,023 people related to those killed attended the government-sponsored ceremony to mourn the roughly 3.1 million Japanese military personnel and civilians who died in the war.
Participants observed a moment of silence at noon as part of the ceremony which took place without a limit on the number of attendees and allowed the singing of the national anthem with the lifting of coronavirus-related restrictions.
Kishida, who will step down as prime minister after announcing he will not run in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party presidential race in September, participated in the event for the third time and delivered a speech. A moment of silence was observed at noon.
In his speech, Kishida did not mention Japan’s wartime aggression in Asia, following the precedent set by his immediate predecessors, Yoshihide Suga and Shinzo Abe.
Instead, the prime minister emphasized efforts to maintain a free and open international order based on the rule of law.
“We will make our utmost efforts to address challenges facing the world,” he said.
Before Abe, who took the prime minister’s post for the second time in 2012, Japanese leaders had consistently mentioned the country’s aggression and expressed remorse at the ceremony.
Emperor Naruhito expressed his “deep remorse,” during the annual memorial service, as he did last year.
“Reflecting on our past and bearing in mind the feelings of deep remorse, I earnestly hope that the ravages of war will never again be repeated,” the emperor said at the ceremony.
Mitsuru Anzai, an 86-year-old representative of relatives of the war dead, made an appeal for peace in his speech, saying, “With conflicts continuing around the world, I pray that peace will be achieved as soon as possible.” Anzai’s father died in China during the war.
Among participants, the eldest was 97-year-old Shoji Nagaya while the youngest was 3-year-old Sena Sakai.
A little less than half of those in attendance were born after the war, according to the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Labor, showing the need to preserve and pass down the lessons of the conflict as the generation who lived through it ages.
The war dead include those killed in the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.
