Japan Obit Murayama FILE - Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama stands before reporters prior to his statement of war remorse at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Aug. 15, 1995. (AP Photo/Naokazu Oinuma, File) (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) (Naokazu Oinuma/AP)
Japan Obit Murayama FILE - Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama holds a basket of Washington state apples which President Bill Clinton gave him prior to the start of their joint news conference at the White House in Washington, Jan. 11, 1995. (AP Photo/Greg Gibson, File) (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) (Greg Gibson/AP)
Japan Obit Murayama FILE - Irish President Mary Robinson, right, smiles at Japans Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, center left, prior to the dinner at the Akasaka Palace, Feb. 23, 1995, Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi, File) (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) (Shizuo Kambayashi/AP)
Japan Obit Murayama FILE - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, right, meets former Japanese Prime Minister Murayama Tomiichi before a banquet to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the normalization of Sino-Japanese relations at the Great Hall of the People on Sept. 27, 2007, in Beijing. (Andrew Wong/Pool Photo via AP, File) (Andrew Wong/AP)
Japan Obit Murayama FILE - Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, left, with first lady Leah Rabin, shares a smile with Japanese counterpart Tomiichi Murayama upon his arrival for a welcome ceremony for him on Dec. 12, 1994, at the Akasaka state guest house in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Tsugufumi Matsumoto, Pool, File) (Tsugufumi Matsumoto/AP)
TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, who was known for his 1995 “Murayama statement” apologizing to Asian victims of his country’s aggression, died Friday. He was 101.
Murayama died at a hospital in his hometown Oita, southwestern Japan, according to a statement from Mizuho Fukushima, the head of Japan's Social Democratic Party.
As head of what was then known as the Japan Socialist Party, Murayama led a coalition government from June 1994 to January 1996.
The apology he issued as prime minister on Aug. 15, 1995, marking the 50th anniversary of Japan's unconditional surrender ending World War II, is seen as Japan's main expression of remorse for its wartime and colonial past. It has since been endorsed by all prime ministers until nationalist Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stopped apologizing in 2013.
Murayama had criticized growing attempts by nationalist lawmakers to discredit the apology for forced prostitution by citing the lack of official wartime documents specifically stating that the government at the time systematically forced Asian women to provide sex for Japanese soldiers at military brothels.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
