That should probably read – FORMER Japanese Foreign Minister. You won’t stay long in a job if you say something like that. It seems that the universal rule of politics is that you can never say something – no matter how true it is – that will make people feel bad.
Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma resigned Tuesday to take responsibility for controversy stirred by his remarks regarding the U.S. atomic bombings of Japan during World War II.
At a lecture in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, on Saturday, Kyuma said, “I understand there is now no alternative but to think that the bombing after all brought the war to an end. I think it was something that couldn’t be helped.”
His comments were inconsiderate.
With the House of Councillors election approaching, the opposition parties–which seized on the remark as a suitable basis on which to criticize the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe–have sought Kyuma’s dismissal from the Cabinet. The ruling coalition was reeling at the prospect of Kyuma’s remarks having an adverse effect on the upcoming election. The result was Kyuma’s resignation…
In Saturday’s lecture, Kyuma offered his opinion that the United States dropped the atomic bombs under an assumption that the bombing would make Japan surrender as well as prevent the Soviet Union from joining the war in the Pacific.
This was not incorrect…
The opposition parties, meanwhile, criticized Kyuma’s remarks with mere emotional rhetoric, saying “They [Kyuma's remarks] echoed the U.S. opinions,” or “He can’t get away with just saying ‘it couldn’t be helped.’” They did not try to hold discussion based on the facts, unclouded by emotion.
What was questionable was Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa pressing Abe to demand the United States apologize for the atomic bombing during the debate between the two party leaders Sunday.
