ABSTRACT
There are conspicuous differences in current attitudes toward the atomic bombing between the Japanese government and the Japanese people. The Japanese government has still not admitted war responsibility fifty years after the end of the Second World War. Former Prime Minister Hosokawa apologized to Asian countries for the damage done by Japan during the war for the first time in 1993, but refused to make any offers of compensation. Twenty million Asians died during the war. An estimated 200,000 women from Korea, the Philippines and other nations were forced to work as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers. The Japanese government has continually evaded the question of state responsibility for aggression. This attitude is related to the government’s refusal to admit war responsibility to atomic bomb victims in the Hibakusha Aid Law. The current attitudes of the Japanese government have been criticized not only by the Japanese people but also by other Asians.
