Japan: Former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama dies at 101

Friday 17 October 2025 - 08:00

By: Sahili Aya

Japan: Former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama dies at 101

Former Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, renowned both in Japan and abroad for offering official apologies for Japan’s actions during World War II, passed away on Friday at the age of 101, political officials announced.

Murayama, who served as Prime Minister from 1994 to 1996, issued in 1995, on the 50th anniversary of Japan’s surrender, a landmark statement expressing “deep remorse” and “sincere apologies” for the suffering and atrocities committed by Japan across Asia.

That declaration—known as the “Murayama Statement”—became a cornerstone of Japan’s postwar diplomacy and has been referenced by successive Japanese leaders during later war anniversaries.

“Tomiichi Murayama, the father of Japanese politics, passed away today at a hospital in Oita at the age of 101,” said Mizuho Fukushima, head of the Social Democratic Party, regarded as the successor to Murayama’s now-dissolved Socialist Party.

According to Hiroyuki Takano, secretary-general of the Social Democratic Party in Oita, Murayama died of natural causes.

During his tenure, Japan faced several major crises, including the 1995 Kobe earthquake and the Tokyo subway sarin gas attack, which killed over a dozen people and injured nearly 6,000.

A veteran of World War II, Murayama had been conscripted into the army in 1944 while studying at university. In a 2015 interview with NHK, he described the military as “a terrible thing,” where “rebellion or discussion were absolutely forbidden.”