April,30,2015

Party Statement on Prime Minister Abe’s Speech to the US Congress

April 30, 2015
Happiness Realization Party

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has made a speech at a joint meeting of the United States Congress, the first such by a prime minister of Japan, in which he promoted the post-war reconciliation between Japan and the United States, lauding the roles of both nations in the peace and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region. We are pleased that this current visit to the States, where the boosting of links in the security field and the progress of negotiations for the TPP were confirmed in yesterday’s summit meeting, has demonstrated the strength of the ties between our two nations as a way to rein in China’s increasing dominance in both military and economic affairs.

As they had in his earlier Bandung Conference, the contents of this speech also attracted attention both nationally and internationally as the Prime Minister heralded this summer’s upcoming statement to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. We welcome the fact that despite all the pressures that were brought to bear, he avoided phrases such as “colonial rule and invasion” that were used in the Murayama Statement, and also mentioning the comfort women issue, presenting a forward-looking message.

However, Abe stated he felt “deep repentance in my heart” in regard to World War Two, expressing his belief regarding accepting the historical awareness of past prime ministers. This is something that our party cannot overlook. To start with, the Tokyo Tribunal view of history, which considers Japan as “a criminal country that waged an invasive war in World War Two” is merely a view of history by the victors, one that seeks to weaken Japan. The view of World War Two as an invasive war led by Japan is too dominant, so our stance should be to view history fairly, considering it as “a war to free the colored peoples from the colonial rule of the Western powers and destroy the racial policies of white supremacism, as well as being a just exercise of the self defense of Japan.”

The United States seems to have the need to disseminate the idea of Japan being bad in order to justify the mass slaughter of civilians in the Great Tokyo Air Raids and the atomic bombs dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, based on the good post-war relationship between our two countries, our party asks the United States to take an unbiased attitude towards historical consciousness, feeling that reflection should be encouraged. Along with withdrawing the Kono and Murayama Statements that are based on false historical consciousness, we ask Prime Minister Abe to boldly demonstrate Japan’s stance, one build on correct historical consciousness, to both Japan and the world in his new statement.

The prime minister stated in his speech that “Japan is right in the middle of a quantum leap,” talking about his determination to move ahead with reforms in a range of different areas, but in pushing ahead with Abe’s main concern, Japan’s greatest structural reform – namely, constitutional reform – we must revise this masochistic view of history. This year, seventy years after the war’s end, in addition to restoring Japan’s honor in terms of historical consciousness, the Happiness Realization Party hopes to move ahead with the creation of a new nation, one that will drive Japan to become a nation which can contribute to the peace and prosperity of not just the Asia-Pacific region, but the entire world.