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Murayama Statement
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Murayama Statement
The Murayama Statement (村山談話, Murayama Danwa) was a political statement released by Prime Minister of Japan Tomiichi Murayama on August 15, 1995, officially titled "On the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the War's End" (戦後50周年の終戦記念日にあたっての村山内閣総理大臣談話, Sengo 50 Shūnen no Shūsen Kinenbi Niatatte no Murayama Naikaku-sōri-daijin Danwa).
It synthesized the position of the Japanese government on historical recognition and reconciliation with Asia and other nations subjected to Japanese colonialism, primarily involving China, Korea, Singapore as well as the rest of Southeast Asia. The statement also recognized the judgements of war tribunals prescribed in Article 11 of the San Francisco Peace Treaty. In this way, the Murayama Statement played a significant role in both the reconciliation of war issues as well as the shift in both domestic and international perception of Japan.
The Murayama statement apologizes for Japanese war crimes and atrocities committed during the period of Japanese imperialism, especially during the Second Sino-Japanese War, World War II, and the annexation of Korea. The war crimes mainly involved the Imperial Japanese Army and the Imperial Japanese Navy, responsible for the deaths of millions. Actions include a wide range including torture of prisoners of war, forced labor, biological warfare, looting, rape, and the use of comfort women. In addition, Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs states the country acknowledges its role in the damage caused by Japan during World War II.
Japanese governments have issued several official apologies for their war crimes and other actions during the Imperial era. The apology that most immediately preceded the Murayama Statement was the Kono Statement announced by LDP Chief Cabinet Secretary Yōhei Kōno on August 4, 1993. With this statement, Japan acknowledged for the first time that their military was directly or indirectly involved in the military-run brothels and used coercion to make the comfort women provide sex to the Japanese soldiers.
The idea of developing a formal, comprehensive apology was raised in January 1995, when the long-dominant Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP) was forced to share power with the Japan Socialist Party (JSP). JSP President Murayama was given the prime ministership in the power-sharing agreement. The Lower House Speaker Takako Doi of JSP emphasized the necessity of trying to resolve Asian distrust in Japan. However, this was first met by strong opposition within the government, with many believing that Japan had already apologized sufficiently for the war, or that the renouncement of war could suggest Japan was abrogating its right to self defense.
To overcome opposition to an apology and reach a resolution, Murayama met with the secretary general of each of the three governing parties on May 25 and asked for negotiations to reach an agreement. He targeted his campaign at the younger leaders of the LDP, including Junichiro Koizumi, former minister of posts and telecommunications and a future prime minister. The leaders reportedly promised Murayama a resolution containing clear expressions of regret. The drafting of the document was a process involving much conflict over wording and expressions, for example with the LDP's rejection of unilateral incrimination of Japan against the Socialists feeling that ambiguity in the statement would greatly detract from its significance. Sakutaro Tanino, a member of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was among those who contributed to the drafting process of the Statement. Tanino was responsible for changing the ambiguous wordings through the implementation of the word "aggression" in the statement.
When formulating the statement, Murayama chose the route of "cabinet decision", a comparatively more politically binding procedure than "cabinet understanding". Murayama expressed his wish for his statement to be interpreted as the will of the cabinet, in order to bind future cabinets. Although his statement was criticized on August 22 by the new LDP Secretary General Hiroshi Mitsuzuka as exceeding the content of the Diet solution, the incoming LDP President (and soon to be prime minister) Ryutaro Hashimoto stated his own interpretation of the war was in accordance with Murayama's statement.
The English translation of the Statement is as follows:
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Murayama Statement
The Murayama Statement (村山談話, Murayama Danwa) was a political statement released by Prime Minister of Japan Tomiichi Murayama on August 15, 1995, officially titled "On the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the War's End" (戦後50周年の終戦記念日にあたっての村山内閣総理大臣談話, Sengo 50 Shūnen no Shūsen Kinenbi Niatatte no Murayama Naikaku-sōri-daijin Danwa).
It synthesized the position of the Japanese government on historical recognition and reconciliation with Asia and other nations subjected to Japanese colonialism, primarily involving China, Korea, Singapore as well as the rest of Southeast Asia. The statement also recognized the judgements of war tribunals prescribed in Article 11 of the San Francisco Peace Treaty. In this way, the Murayama Statement played a significant role in both the reconciliation of war issues as well as the shift in both domestic and international perception of Japan.
The Murayama statement apologizes for Japanese war crimes and atrocities committed during the period of Japanese imperialism, especially during the Second Sino-Japanese War, World War II, and the annexation of Korea. The war crimes mainly involved the Imperial Japanese Army and the Imperial Japanese Navy, responsible for the deaths of millions. Actions include a wide range including torture of prisoners of war, forced labor, biological warfare, looting, rape, and the use of comfort women. In addition, Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs states the country acknowledges its role in the damage caused by Japan during World War II.
Japanese governments have issued several official apologies for their war crimes and other actions during the Imperial era. The apology that most immediately preceded the Murayama Statement was the Kono Statement announced by LDP Chief Cabinet Secretary Yōhei Kōno on August 4, 1993. With this statement, Japan acknowledged for the first time that their military was directly or indirectly involved in the military-run brothels and used coercion to make the comfort women provide sex to the Japanese soldiers.
The idea of developing a formal, comprehensive apology was raised in January 1995, when the long-dominant Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP) was forced to share power with the Japan Socialist Party (JSP). JSP President Murayama was given the prime ministership in the power-sharing agreement. The Lower House Speaker Takako Doi of JSP emphasized the necessity of trying to resolve Asian distrust in Japan. However, this was first met by strong opposition within the government, with many believing that Japan had already apologized sufficiently for the war, or that the renouncement of war could suggest Japan was abrogating its right to self defense.
To overcome opposition to an apology and reach a resolution, Murayama met with the secretary general of each of the three governing parties on May 25 and asked for negotiations to reach an agreement. He targeted his campaign at the younger leaders of the LDP, including Junichiro Koizumi, former minister of posts and telecommunications and a future prime minister. The leaders reportedly promised Murayama a resolution containing clear expressions of regret. The drafting of the document was a process involving much conflict over wording and expressions, for example with the LDP's rejection of unilateral incrimination of Japan against the Socialists feeling that ambiguity in the statement would greatly detract from its significance. Sakutaro Tanino, a member of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was among those who contributed to the drafting process of the Statement. Tanino was responsible for changing the ambiguous wordings through the implementation of the word "aggression" in the statement.
When formulating the statement, Murayama chose the route of "cabinet decision", a comparatively more politically binding procedure than "cabinet understanding". Murayama expressed his wish for his statement to be interpreted as the will of the cabinet, in order to bind future cabinets. Although his statement was criticized on August 22 by the new LDP Secretary General Hiroshi Mitsuzuka as exceeding the content of the Diet solution, the incoming LDP President (and soon to be prime minister) Ryutaro Hashimoto stated his own interpretation of the war was in accordance with Murayama's statement.
The English translation of the Statement is as follows:
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