Japan PM vows no more war on WWII anniversary

STORY: Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida vowed that his country would never again wage war

on the anniversary of the country's World War Two surrender.

That as members of his cabinet visited a shrine that honors war dead, angering South Korea and China.

Kishida's pledge was delivered at a national memorial service on Monday (August 15) attended by the Emperor and 592 family members of victims of the conflict.

“We will never again repeat the horrors of war. I will continue to live up to this determined oath. In a world where conflicts are still unabated, Japan, under the banner of proactive pacifism, will do its utmost to work together with the international community to resolve the various challenges facing the world.”

The anniversary of Japan's surrender is traditionally also marked by visits to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine.

It is seen by South Korea and China as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.

Visits by Japanese leaders infuriate neighbors that suffered at the hands of Japan before and during World War Two.

Among others, Yasukuni honors 14 Japanese wartime leaders convicted as war criminals.

Kishida faced a tricky balancing act, hoping to avoid irking neighbors while keeping happy the more right-wing members of his conservative liberal Democratic party.

According to Japanese news agency Kyodo, Kishida sent an offering to the shrine without visiting, as he did during recent festivals.

But unlike his predecessor Yoshihide Suga, and Abe in 2020, Kishida made an oblique reference to Japan's wartime actions, saying "the lessons of history are graven deeply on our hearts."

Despite that, South Korea and China denounced the visits to the shrine.

A spokesperson for South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Korean government "is urging Japan's responsible people to face history and show humble reflection and genuine reflection on the past through action."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wengbin said the ministers' visit to the shrine "reflects Japan's wrong attitude towards historical issues."

Japan's ties with China were already strained after China conducted unprecedented military exercises around Taiwan following the visit there by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi this month.

During the drills, several missiles fell in waters inside Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone.