August,14,2015

Party Statement on the “statement on the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II”

August 14, 2015

Happiness Realization Party

The Happiness Realization Party calls for the “statement on the 70^th anniversary of the end of World War II” that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe released on August 14 to be withdrawn. The wording related to World War II has drawn attention both at home and abroad, and our Party cannot ignore the fact that this needlessly verbose statement adheres to the recognition of history conveyed in the statement by Former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama and so on, includes terms such as “aggression” and “colonial rule,” and expresses “feelings of deep remorse” and “a heartfelt apology.” Not only is the awareness depicted in this statement mired in a masochistic view of history, the positioning of Japan of the past as a “challenger to the international order” and other elements make the content impossible to accept. The statement emphasizes Japan’s walking the path of a peace-loving nation following the war and extols our country’s future-oriented international contributions, yet points out that our country’s honor absolutely cannot be restored.

To begin with, the historical view put forth in the Tokyo Trials that “Japan is an aggressor nation,” is nothing more than the historical perspective that the countries on the winning side of the war disseminated with the intention of weakening Japan. As our Party has highlighted in the past, the Pacific War, known as the Greater East Asia War in Japan, was a war of self-defense for Japan and was based on the just cause of abolishing the colonial rule and racially discriminatory policies of Europe and the United States. We believe that this fact should have been made clear both at home and abroad as our country’s official point of view.

Presently, Japan is being pressed to strengthen its deterrent force in order to stand up to the rising military presence of China and so on, but looking at the rising public opposition to the security legislation being proposed by the Abe cabinet in the National Diet, it is clear that the amendment Article 9 of the Constitution and a drastic strengthening of military force would be difficult unless we sweep away the historical perspective that sees Japan prior to and during the war as evil. With the continuing adverse international security environment in the Asia-Pacific region, revising the historical view of the Tokyo Trials is imperative in order to protect the people of our nation and ensure regional peace. Now that it has become apparent the Abe administration cannot be expected to revise its recognition of history, our Party intends to lead the way in completely restoring the honor of Japan related to historical recognition, and work vigorously toward building a new nation—which will start with recreating our constitution—in order to achieve a rebirth for Japan as a country that can contribute to the peace and prosperity of the world. We would like to convey our sincere gratitude to the people of Japan for your ongoing understanding and support.