Marking the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II on Monday, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi pledged that Japan should never wage war while apologizing to other Asian nations for his country's war atrocities, dpa reported. "Our country has caused tremendous damage and pain to the peoples of many countries, especially Asian countries, through colonial rule and invasion. Humbly acknowledging such facts of history, I once again reflect most deeply and offer apologies from my heart as well as express my condolences to all the victims of the last major war both in and out of the country," Koizumi said in a statement. Such a statement has not been issued by a Japanese prime minister on a memorial day in a decade. Tomiichi Murayama was the first prime minister to do so on the 50th anniversary of the war's end in 1995. "In order to contribute to world peace, our country, while upholding our pledge not to wage war, intends to play active roles as a responsible member of the international community, bearing in mind the experiences as the only country that was the victim of atomic bombings and the path taken in the 60 years after the war," Koizumi said in a statement. This year the prime minister didn't make his annual controversial pilgrimage to the Yasukuni War Shrine. Instead, Koizumi placed flowers on the tombs for the unknown war dead in Tokyo. However, two cabinet members, as well as Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara, visited the shrine on Monday, according to Kyodo news service. The shrine glorifies war criminals from World War II along with the 2.5 million war dead. Both China and South Korea, which Japan invaded and occupied during, have expressed their discontent over the prime ministers' visits to the Yasukuni Shrine. --mor 1338 Local Time 1038 GMT
