Tomiichi Murayama, author of wartime apology, dies | JQJO

Former Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, known for his 1995 apology to Asian victims of Japan's wartime aggression, died Friday at 101 in a hospital in his hometown of Oita, party leader Mizuho Fukushima said. The ex-Japan Socialist Party chief led a coalition from 1994 to 1996, faced the Kobe earthquake and Tokyo subway gas attack, and was criticized for slow responses before resigning early the next year. In retirement, he challenged nationalist efforts to dilute wartime remorse and urged honest acknowledgment of abuses and closer ties with China.