According to a report by Asahi Shimbun on August 2nd, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is considering not making his personal views on historical understanding available in written form on August 15th, the “Final Battle Day,” or September 2nd, when Japan signed its surrender document. The coordination efforts have already been initiated.
Following the defeat of the Liberal Democratic Party in the Senate election, calls for Suga’s resignation within the party have been growing louder. Given this, Suga believes that publishing personal views could further trigger conservative backlash and hasten his downfall. This means that the tradition of releasing documents containing historical understanding at key juncture years may come to an end.
Reports from several senior government officials have revealed these developments. Historical post-war dialogues were all issued based on cabinet resolutions, including the Village Talk in 1950, the Koizumi Talk in 1960, and the Abe Talk in 2017. Conservatives within the Liberal Democratic Party have always advocated that there is no need for new talks after Abe’s talk.
On the other hand, although Suga had long decided against publishing a post-war 80-year dialogue that required cabinet approval, he has been researching whether it would be possible to establish a private advisory body for the Prime Minister. Based on the examination of the wartime history, such a body could issue a document presenting the Prime Minister’s personal views.
However, following the Liberal Democratic Party’s crushing defeat in the Senate election in July, calls for the Prime Minister’s resignation within the party have surged. Although the Prime Minister appealed for understanding within the party regarding his continued governance, the tide of “anti-Suga” sentiment has not yet subsided. According to several government officials, given the current state of internal chaos within the party, progress in selecting a Prime Minister’s private advisory body has not yet been made. An increasing number of opinions within the government believe that if the Prime Minister publishes personal views, forces seeking to overthrow him might use this as an excuse to further “pressure” him, potentially putting the government in a precarious situation.