Reflection on 80th Anniversary of End of WWII: Issuing Message Raises Questions about Ishiba’s Judgment

Editorial

17:07 JST, October 12, 2025

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s desire to ensure that the calamities of war will never be repeated is understandable, but his message merely reiterated analysis that had already been thoroughly presented by scores of researchers, experts and others.

At the height of political turmoil, was it necessary for this message, which lacked originality, to be issued by the prime minister, who is set to step down soon?  It calls his judgment into question.

Ishiba issued a statement of personal reflection titled “On the 80th anniversary of the end of the war.”

Statements issued by prime ministers on the 50th, 60th and 70th anniversaries of the end of World War II were all approved by their Cabinets as the government’s official view. Ishiba’s statement, however, did not go through a Cabinet meeting. He apparently intended to make it his personal message.

However, if a prime minister issues such a statement while in office, it will likely be perceived overseas as the official view of the Japanese government.

It is concerning that countries such as China may use Ishiba’s statement as a tool to pressure Japan on historical issues.

While Ishiba said he upholds the positions articulated in the past three statements, it is notable that his message focused on analyzing the “political system” of the time, which failed to avoid the war.

In addition to the systemic issue of there being no civilian control by the government, Ishiba cited the Diet’s loss of control over the military as a result of lawmakers wasting time in political strife, the government’s failure to accurately understand the international situation, and that even the media supported the war, among other factors.

On this basis, Ishiba said that an attitude of learning from history is important to never repeat the war. He also noted that “a healthy and robust democracy” is what matters most.

Views similar to those presented in his statement have been expressed repeatedly by researchers of contemporary and political history. Ishiba claimed that the past statements did not sufficiently address these matters, but was he unaware of this fact?

When then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was to issue a statement on the anniversary of the end of the war 10 years ago, he set up an expert panel six months ahead of the date and meticulously devised the statement while consulting experts.

While the 70th anniversary statement gave consideration to liberal lawmakers within the Liberal Democratic Party by including such keywords as “aggression” and “apology,” it sought to put an end to Japan’s history of apologies, saying, “We must not let our children, grandchildren, and even further generations to come … be predestined to apologize.”

In light of the intention of that statement, conservative LDP lawmakers urged Ishiba to abandon his plan to release his statement, saying that presenting a new view could reignite historical disputes. However, he did not listen.

It is deeply regrettable that Ishiba appears more fixated on building his own legacy than ensuring his successor will run the government smoothly.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Oct. 12, 2025)