Remorse

That was the word used to express regret over the hideous atrocities committed by the militaristic Japanese during the Second World War:

Japan on Friday marked the 80th anniversary of its surrender to Allied forces in World War II, with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba expressing “remorse” at the national memorial service for war casualties — the first time a Japanese prime minister has used the word in an Aug. 15 speech since 2012.

“We will not repeat the horrors of war. We will not go down the wrong path again. We must engrave the war’s remorse and lessons deeply into our hearts,” said Ishiba at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward.

The word remorse was last used in 2012 by then-Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who led the Democratic Party of Japan at the time, in his speech marking the 67th anniversary of Japan’s World War II surrender.

Prime ministers who succeeded Noda — Shinzo Abe, Yoshihide Suga and Fumio Kishida, all from the Liberal Democratic Party — did not mention “remorse” in their speeches, making Ishiba’s choice a notable break from his LDP predecessors.

 

One must wonder the latter did not express remorse but Ishiga did. 

Does this represent a turning point in post-war Japanese political culture or is it a random event?