Japan marks 80th anniversary of World War II surrender with vow of peace

Japan has commemorated 80 years since its surrender in World War II with a Tokyo memorial attended by Emperor Naruhito, as Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba pledged the nation would never again go to war.

The ceremony at Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan arena on Friday brought together about 3,400 bereaved family members to honour those killed in the conflict. Empress Masako joined the emperor in leading tributes, while Prime Minister Ishiba, marking his first wartime anniversary since taking office last year, renewed Japan’s post-war commitment to peace.

The event fell on the date in 1945 when Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s surrender in a radio broadcast, ending the Second World War. Ishiba’s speech avoided direct reference to Japan’s wartime aggression, a practice followed by several recent leaders, but he also refrained from issuing a formal memorial statement — a step taken by his predecessors on the 50th, 60th and 70th anniversaries. Such declarations have often drawn close scrutiny from China and South Korea, which endured occupation and conflict under Japanese rule.

Japan has maintained a pacifist stance under its war-renouncing Constitution, allowing the use of force only for self-defence. Relations with China and South Korea remain shaped by historical grievances, while ties with the United States have evolved into a close security alliance since 1945.

Last week, at ceremonies marking the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Ishiba called for a world without nuclear weapons. The U.S. remains the only nation to have used nuclear arms in war, striking the two Japanese cities days before Tokyo’s surrender.

U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this year declared 8 May as U.S. Victory Day in World War II.

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