Japan's Surrender and the Problem with the PM

PM Takaichi's speech at the annual ceremony commemorating Japan's WW2 surrender on August 15, 1945, and honoring the nation's victims of the war marked a hugely significant departure from past speeches, and it all came down to a single kana, せ。 From the headline in the Asahi: 惨禍を繰り返さ「せ」ない　高市首相の式辞に加わった1文字への懸念 Whereas her predecessors avowed to a man never to repeat Japan's wartime past, to mount a war of aggression (惨禍を繰り返さない, '侵略'), Takaichi, by inserting the single kana 'せ' (繰り返せない), makes no such pledge. Her statement on the 15th means that Japan will not provoke another country into initiating armed conflict (by a massive military buildup, or exporting offensive weapons- the latter in violation of the country's pacifist constitution, by the by) . Her wording does not explicitly disavow wars of Japanese aggression. Rather, it seems to acknowledge that Japan's neighbors might be concerned by the country's militarism. Given the country's past militarism, an understandable concern. Alters things, the 'せ'. As Chuo University professor Nakakita explains, "中央大の中北浩爾教授（日本政治史）は、「繰り返さない」は、自ら戦争を起こした日本が不戦の決意を述べていると読めるのに対し、「繰り返させない」は、相手国が戦争を引き起こしたように読める可能性があると指摘。第二次世界大戦が「日本が主体的に戦禍を起こした『侵略戦争』ではなく、やむなく戦争に向かった『自衛戦争』だったというニュアンスが出かねない」と話す。