Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko have just completed a five-day official visit to the Philippines — their first since traveling there as Crown Prince and Crown Princess in 1962. While they made last week's visit at the invitation of President Benigno Aquino to mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and the Philippines, an important aspect of the trip was consoling the souls of people who died in the fighting there during World War II. The Emperor expressed his strong feelings toward the war when he embarked on the trip, referring to "countless Filipino, American and Japanese lives" lost in the Philippines during the war and to the fierce battles fought in the city of Manila. "This history will always be in our hearts as we make this visit to the Philippines," he said.
Today, the Philippines and Japan have friendly ties. But this should not blind us to what happened during the war. The Imperial Couple's visit to the Philippines should remind us of the need to remember the damage and suffering Japan's war brought to the people of the Philippines. Without acknowledging the past, true friendship and trust with that country will be difficult. This also applies to Japan's relations with any other Asian country that suffered from its wartime aggression.
The Philippines became a target of Japanese attacks from the outset of the Pacific War. Just 10 hours after the Pearl Harbor attack on Dec. 8, 1941, Japan began bombing U.S. bases in the Philippines, which was an American colony. In January 1942, Japanese forces occupied Manila and established a military government. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, commander of U.S. Army Forces in the Far East, and his staff retreated to Australia. Following the Japanese military' victory over Allied forces on the Bataan Peninsula, American and Filipino prisoners of war were forced to walk some 106 km to POW camps, during which an estimated 20,000 of them died in what became known as the Bataan Death March.