Let us reaffirm no-war pledge at 65th year after the outbreak of the Pacific War

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Let us reaffirm no-war pledge at 65th year after the outbreak of the Pacific War
Akahata editorial (excerpts)

This year's December 8 marks the 65th anniversary of Japan starting the war against the United States, Britain, and other countries in the world in the wake of its war of aggression against China. It was called the Pacific War. This 15-year war that includes the invasion of Manchuria and northeastern China in September 1931 ended with Japan's defeat in August 1945. More than 3 million Japanese people as well as 20 million people in other Asian countries were killed in the war. We must remember the ravages of the war and renew our determination never to repeat the mistakes of going to war.

Face up to war responsibility

It is particularly important now to be straightforward in facing up to the question of Japan's responsibility for the war of aggression against other Asian countries and their colonization. The task now is for us to oppose all attempts to justify Japan's war of aggression and obscure Japan's responsibility for it.

Former Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro many times visited Yasukuni Shrine which lauds Japan's past wars as morally just wars, drawing criticism inside and outside Japan. His praise of the war of aggression highlights how extraordinary the Liberal Democratic Party stance is, in addition to revealing its subordination to U.S. policies and its extreme support for large corporations.

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, who is said to have a more reactionary view of history than Koizumi, in his Diet reply soon after taking office stated that he recognizes the 1995 statement by then Prime Minister Murayama Tomiichi that Japan followed a mistaken national policy through colonial rule and aggression. He also said he acknowledges the 1993 statement by then Chief Cabinet Secretary Kono Yohei on military comfort women. Soon after making clear this position, Abe visited China and South Korea and made a promise to face up to the historical past. These developments, made under pressure from people in Japan and abroad, show that his historical view that justifies the past Japanese war is something that he must not officially state as prime minister.

Japan's postwar era began with the establishment of the present Constitution which acknowledges Japan's past crimes of invading and colonizing other countries with the resolution that "never again shall we (the Japanese people) be visited with the horrors of war through the action of government." Whatever views of history Abe may have personally, his position as prime minister obliges him to bear the responsibility to be true to this basic point. And he also has the responsibility to implement the promises he officially made in the Diet and in diplomatic talks.

The Japanese Communist Party has paid attention to the reverse currents that try to justify the war of aggression and has made efforts to criticize and overcome them because this question has a serious bearing on Japan's basic direction in Asia and the world after the war. Obviously, these efforts of the JCP and the public in general have produced results in improving the situation in relation to the historical issues.

The "pro-Yasukuni" forces who justify the war of aggression have been swayed by Prime Minister Abe's attitudes, but they are intent on overcoming all obstacles. The present cabinet led by a prime minister who calls for a change in the postwar regime has plans for the enactment of a bill to adversely revise the Fundamental Law of Education in the first Diet session after taking office, and the prime minister publicly predicts constitutional revision within five years while he is in office. Reneging on his promise to reflect on the war of aggression, the prime minister continues to carry out plans to turn Japan into a country that can legally wage wars abroad within the framework of the alliance with the United States. The struggle against these adverse currents is a focus of national politics.

The party that has opposed war of aggression

The reason why the JCP can exert its strength in the struggle opposing the adverse currents over war responsibility is because it is the only political party that has been consistent in opposing wars of aggression and colonization since its founding.

The JCP will make every effort in this direction. Let us face up to the question of Japan's war responsibility, reject any reverse currents, and pave the way for peace in Japan and the rest of the world.
-Akahata, December 8, 2006