80 years later, Japan still can’t agree on how to remember WWII

In August 2015, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s statement, while inheriting the expressions of reflection and apology for Japan’s wartime aggression and colonial rule made in earlier statements, also referred to Japan in the pre–World War II period. He noted that around 1930, after World War I, Japan had deviated from the path of international cooperation and gone astray. However, the bulk of his statement emphasised Japan’s postwar path as a peace-loving nation and its contributions to the international community.