World Notes Japan

On the rare occasions when Japanese discuss World War II, they usually speak of their own victimization by the militarists who led the country into battle and by the Americans who bombed their cities. Japan's brutal aggression is ignored. But last week, at a ceremony marking the 46th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, the city's mayor, Takashi Hiraoka, for the first time apologized for the pain Japan caused. Noting that the "horror" began with its 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, he said, "Japan inflicted great suffering on the peoples of Asia and the Pacific during its reign of colonial domination and war. For this we are truly sorry."

Hidekatsu Tojo, 53, eldest grandson of Hideki Tojo, Japan's wartime Prime Minister, who was hanged for his crimes in 1948, is dealing with the war's legacy in a different way: by pursuing a singing career. His first record is a war requiem called Under the Southern Cross. "The reaction to Tojo's name has become quieter recently," he said. "Attitudes toward the war are changing now."