The Murayama Statement was a political statement released by former Prime Minister of Japan Tomiichi Murayama on August 15, 1995, officially titled "On the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the War's End".
Tomiichi Murayama, who made the statement
Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono
Junichiro Koizumi
Abe's speech for Japan's role in World War II
Tomiichi Murayama is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1994 to 1996. He led the Japan Socialist Party, and was responsible for changing its name to the Social Democratic Party of Japan in 1996. Upon becoming Prime Minister, he was Japan's first socialist leader in nearly fifty years. He is most remembered today for his speech "On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the War's end", in which he publicly apologised for Japan's past colonial rule and aggression. Of the ten living former prime ministers of Japan, he is currently the oldest living prime minister, following the death of Yasuhiro Nakasone on 29 November 2019. Murayama is also the only living former Japanese prime minister who was born in the Taishō era.
Official portrait, 1994
Hanshin Expressway after the Great Hanshin earthquake
With Yoshihiko Okabe (28 November 2015)