January 12, 2015 11:17
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga on Sunday admitted Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may depart from the standard wording in a speech on the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Past Japanese leaders have usually said the country "repents" for the invasions and atrocities of imperial Japan.
The touchstones are an apology from 1995 by then prime ministers Tomiichi Murayama marking the 50th anniversary and Junichiro Koizumi in 2005 marking the 60th.
"The Abe Cabinet has kept saying it will uphold positions of the past Cabinets over history, including the Murayama statement, as a whole," Suga told reporters.
But he added Abe has no reason to repeat the remarks, according to broadcaster NHK.
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