Like the suppression of human rights, impoverishment and starvation, regional conflict, and the destruction of the global environment, these are all major threats to world peace. This is an era in which we must think of global security. It is a time to foster human solidarity transcending national borders, to pool our wisdom, and to work together to establish world peace. At this 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, it is important to look at the stark reality of war in terms of both aggrieved and aggriever so as to develop a common understanding of history. The suffering of all the war's victims indelibly etched in our hearts, we want to apologize for the unbearable suffering that Japanese colonial domination and war inflicted on so many people.
Memory is where past and future meet.
Respectfully learning the lessons of the past, we want to impress the misery of war and the atomic bombing on the generations of younger people who will be tomorrow's leaders. Similarly, we also need to emphasize the human aspects of education as the basis for peace. Only when life and human rights are accorded the highest priority can young people enjoy lives of boundless hope. At this Peace Memorial Ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of the atomic bombing, I am resolved to spare no effort in achieving the abolition of nuclear weapons and the attainment of world peace.