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5mo ago

Tomiichi Murayama, Former Japan Prime Minister Who Issued Wartime Apology, Dies at 101

His legacy centers on the 1995 cabinet-backed apology for wartime aggression, a touchstone in Japan’s postwar reconciliation.

FILE PHOTO: Former Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama poses in front of portraits of former leaders of his Social Democratic Party after an interview with Reuters at the party headquarters in Tokyo March 10, 2015. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe risks further alienating Asian neighbours China and South Korea if he does not stick to the substance of a 1995 apology for wartime aggression, Murayama, who issued the landmark statement two decades ago, said on Tuesday. To match Interview JAPAN-WAR/MURAYAMA REUTERS/Toru Hanai (JAPAN - Tags: POLITICS PORTRAIT)/File Photo
Quién era Tomiichi Murayama
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Overview

  • Kyodo News reported his death at 101, and Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima said he died at a hospital in his hometown of Oita.
  • He served from June 1994 to January 1996, leading a rare coalition that included the Liberal Democratic Party after its decades-long dominance.
  • On August 15, 1995 he delivered the cabinet-endorsed Murayama Statement expressing deep remorse and a sincere apology for Japan’s colonialism and aggression.
  • His tenure was tested by the Kobe (Hanshin) earthquake in January 1995 and the Tokyo subway sarin attack two months later, events that exposed government shortcomings.
  • In July 1995 he launched the Asian Women’s Fund to address the plight of “comfort women,” and after retiring in 2000 he continued peace advocacy, reaffirming his apology in 2020.