STORY: Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged on Thursday (August 15) that his country would never again engage in warfare, a promise echoed by Japan’s Emperor, Naruhito.
The two men spoke at an annual ceremony marking the anniversary of Japan’s surrender, which brought about the end of the Second World War.
Nearly eight decades since the end of the war, the conflict remains a source of tension between Japan and its neighbours, particularly China and North and South Korea.
Members of Kishida’s cabinet, including Defence Minister Minoru Kihara, visited Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine on Thursday. The shrine is controversial as it honours Japan’s war dead, including 14 World War Two leaders convicted by an Allied tribunal as “Class A” war criminals, making it a flashpoint for regional tensions.
