Japan PM offers ‘eternal condolences’ for Americans killed in WWII

Declaring “history is harsh,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan offered solemn condolences Wednesday for the Americans who died in World War II as he became the first Japanese leader to address a joint meeting of Congress. But as he did at a news conference Tuesday with President Barack Obama, Abe stopped short of offering an apology for Japanese conduct during the war, including the sexual enslavement of tens of thousands of Asian women by Japan’s imperial army. South Korea and a number of U.S. lawmakers have sought such an apology, but Abe did not offer one. Instead, he expressed “feelings of deep remorse over the war” and acknowledged that “our actions brought suffering to the peoples in Asian countries, we must not avert our eyes from that.”

On behalf of Japan and the Japanese people, I offer with profound respect my eternal condolences to the souls of all American people that were lost during World War II.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said, which promoted lawmakers from both parties to stand and applaud

Since winning election in December 2012, Abe has been a strong advocate of closer ties with the U.S. He’s been granted the full pomp and ceremony at the White House, and was feted with a state dinner Tuesday night. But it was the invitation to address Congress that set him apart from his predecessors. While past Japanese prime ministers — including Abe’s own grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, in 1957 — have addressed the House, it was the first time for a leader of the East Asian nation to speak to both chambers.