Japan's Takaichi avoids 'remorse' in speech, drawing scrutiny
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi came under scrutiny from both domestic and international media on August 15 after leaving out the word "reflection" from her first address at Japan's annual national memorial ceremony in Tokyo, on the 81st anniversary of the end of World War II.
In the roughly three-minute speech, Takaichi paid tribute to the more than three million Japanese who lost their lives during the war, including military personnel and civilians. She also said that Japan must never allow the horrors of war to be repeated.
But the omission of "reflection" drew particular attention because it marked a departure from the approach taken by her predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba. In 2025, Ishiba had brought the word back into the annual address after a 13-year hiatus, stressing that Japan must take to heart the "reflection and lessons" of the war and pass on a "resolute pledge never to wage war" to future generations.
Takaichi's speech omitted not only the word "reflection" (反省), but also the "pledge of non-aggression" (不戦の誓い), marking a return to the approach that her political mentor, Shinzo Abe, began taking in 2013. The omission extended to the word "lessons learned" (教訓), which had featured in recent annual memorial addresses and had been used alongside references to Japan's wartime past.
The controversy was compounded by visits to the Yasukuni Shrine on the same day by several members of Takaichi's cabinet. The shrine honors Japan's war dead, but remains highly controversial because among those commemorated there are 14 convicted Class-A war criminals. Takaichi herself did not visit the shrine, instead sending a ritual offering. No sitting Japanese prime minister has visited Yasukuni since 2013.
The cabinet members' visits, together with Takaichi's offering, prompted protests from China and the Republic of Korea, where Yasukuni is widely regarded as a symbol of Japan's wartime aggression. Demonstrations were also held in Tokyo, with protesters chanting, "No to shrines that glorify war." #FrontlineStory
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