Shinzo Abe on Friday declined to issue his own clear apology for Japan’s wartime actions, as the prime minister maintained the forms of past statements of remorse but sharply changed their context.
In a landmark statement on the 70th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in the second world war, Mr Abe said he upheld past apologies but reframed them in a more nationalist narrative about resistance to western colonialism.
By repeating crucial phrases used by past Japanese prime ministers, such as “colonial rule” and “aggression”, Mr Abe may have done enough to avoid a sharp backlash from former enemies in China and South Korea.
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