Almost 200 academics sign petition urging Abe to apologise for Japan's wartime past

Japanese academics have urged Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to renew apologies for the country’s imperialist past and offer to compensate victims of its wartime brothel system, in the latest intervention from educationalists.

The move comes as the nationalist Abe prepares a statement he is expected to deliver in August. It is being closely watched for any sign of backsliding on previous Japanese apologies.

Nearly 200 academics including experts on Japanese and Korean history signed the statement imploring Abe to repeat previous explicit prime ministerial apologies for Japanese violence.

The statement, also signed by dozens of journalists, lawyers and rights activists, said Abe’s expected announcement “must reaffirm that invasion and colonial control caused harm and pain to neighbour countries... and it must express renewed sentiments of regret and apology”.

Signatories say Tokyo must face up to its responsibility for the sexual enslavement of thousands of women, an issue at the heart of the bitter enmity between Japan and South Korea, from where most of the women came.

“We emphasise resolution of the comfort women issue this time, as the relationship between Japan and South Korea has been strained,” said one of the organisers Haruki Wada, historian and professor emeritus of Tokyo University, using Japan’s preferred euphemism.