As anniversary of Japan’s WWII surrender nears, legacy of conflict shapes ties with China and South Korea

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has adopted a less apologetic stance and wants to revise a post-war, pacifist constitution

Many Koreans resent Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule, while China has bitter memories of Japan’s invasion and occupation

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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe lays a wreath during a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:00pm, 12 Aug 2020Updated: 6:00pm, 12 Aug 2020

In a four-and-a-half-minute radio speech on August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s surrender in World War II, telling his subjects he had resolved to pave the way for peace by “enduring the unendurable”.

Seventy-five years later, the unresolved legacy of the conflict haunts Tokyo’s ties with China and South Korea, even as the countries cope with a Covid-19 pandemic that is forcing Japan to scale back its August 15 ceremony for war dead. In Japan, consensus over the war’s legacy is elusive.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has adopted a less apologetic stance and wants to revise a post-war, pacifist constitution that conservatives see as a humiliating symbol of defeat. A majority of the public opposes altering the charter, long viewed as a breakwater against repeating past mistakes.

“The legacy of the war, the unresolved issues of historical justice and historical understanding, remain very much with us,” said Daniel Sneider, a lecturer in East Asian studies at Stanford University.

“Does time heal all wounds? Soon there will be nobody who experienced the war … Do the issues disappear? No, they don’t, because they are so wrapped up with the formation of identity in all these countries.”

Many Koreans, who mark August 15 as “National Liberation Day”, still resent Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule, while China has bitter memories of Japan’s invasion and occupation from 1931-45. It celebrates “Victory Over Japan” day on September 3, one day after Tokyo’s formal surrender.

Partly because the Covid-19 pandemic dominates attention, debate over Japan’s war responsibility has been more muted than on the 70th anniversary, which Abe marked with a controversial statement.