TOKYO, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- The Japanese government acknowledged the 64th anniversary of the end of World War II Saturday, apologizing for wartime atrocities in Asia.
Japanese Prime Minister Tara Aso led a ceremony in Tokyo during which he delivered a speech expressing regret over Japan's actions in the conflict, sentiments echoed by Emperor Akihito, who prayed for world peace, the Mainichi Daily News reported.
"As a state that aspires sincerely for world peace, Japan will do its best to win confidence from the world," Aso said at the Nippon Budokan hall in Tokyo.
The emperor expressed his "heartfelt condolences to the people who lost their lives in battlefields and fell victim to the war, and pray for world peace and the further development of Japan."
House of Councilors President Satsuki Eda, meanwhile, praised U.S. President Barack Obama's stated determination to seek a world without nuclear weapons, calling it an "opportunity for the world to open the door to a new era," the newspaper said.
"I'm determined to urge the world to advance to the ideals of permanent peace," the Daily News reported Eda as saying.
