An apology from Japan
Published 9:00 pm Friday, September 7, 2001
Associated Press
TOKYO — At a weekend ceremony in the United States to commemorate the treaty ending World War II, Japan’s foreign minister is set to apologize for the suffering of Americans who were held as prisoners of war by the Japanese military, a Japanese newspaper reported Friday.
Japanese Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka will meet with Secretary of State Colin Powell in San Francisco today, when a ceremony will be held in remembrance of the 50th anniversary of the signing of the peace treaty bearing the city’s name.
Tanaka has decided to offer an apology at the ceremony for the suffering of American POWs in an attempt to soothe what remains a sore spot between the two countries, the nationally circulated Asahi newspaper reported.
A number of former American POWs have unsuccessfully sued Japanese companies for using them as forced labor during the war, and this year U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation to make it easier for such suits to be filed.
The State Department’s official position is that the 1951 peace treaty waived all future compensation claims against Japan.
The unattributed report by the Asahi did not indicate whether Tanaka planned to apologize directly to American veterans or do so during her meeting with Powell.
The newspaper said that the language of the apology would be based on a 1995 speech made by Tomiichi Murayama, the prime minister at the time, marking the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Going beyond statements of remorse made by previous Japanese leaders, Murayama spoke of Japan’s "mistaken national policy" that "caused tremendous damage and suffering to people of many countries" and offered a "heartfelt apology."
Some historians estimate Japan forced as many as 30,000 Americans POWs to work during the war. Several thousand are living.
A federal judge in California dismissed a lawsuit last fall filed by 700 ex-POWs, citing the 1951 treaty and saying the debt had been paid by "the immeasurable bounty of life for themselves and their posterity in a free society and in a more peaceful world."
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