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Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Shii: Prime minister's Aug. 15 statement is betrayed by his own action

Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro published a statement on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the end of WWII on August 15, describing Japan's postwar history as "60 years of peace where we have expressed our reflection on the war through action."

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo in a street speech in Omiya City in Saitama Prefecture on the same day criticized the prime minister's speech for "speaking of reflection on the war but betraying them by visiting Yasukuni Shrine."

Referring to the prime minister not visiting Yasukuni Shrine on August 15 this year, Shii said that he should never visit Yasukuni Shrine in the future, because the prime minister's visits will legitimize Ysukuni Shrine's view of history justifying Japan's war of aggression.

Shii said that both the Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of Japan have Dietmembers who advocate that Japan's war was justifiable. He said that these "two major parties" are incapable of breaking Japan's diplomatic deadlock. The JCP chair strongly emphasized that the JCP, consistently opposed to the war of aggression for 83 years since its founding, is not condoning any fabrications of history.

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It is the second time for the prime minister to issue a statement on the anniversary of the war's end, following the one by former Prime Minister Murayama Tomiichi in 1995.

Koizumi's statement imitates the Murayama statement in expressing reflection and apology for the tremendous damage and pain that Japan caused many countries, especially Asian countries. However, it omits Murayama's acknowledgement of the error in the national policy of going to war. -- Akahata, August 16, 2005