Murayama dies at 101; former PM known for 1995 wartime apology

Former Japanese prime minister Tomiichi Murayama, best known for a 1995 statement apologizing for Japan's wartime actions, died on Friday at a hospital in Oita City. He was 101, Social Democratic Party officials said, who reported he died of old age and conveyed condolences to his family.

Murayama served as prime minister from June 1994 to January 1996 as head of a coalition government that included the long-dominant Liberal Democratic Party. He was the first socialist to lead the Japanese government since the late 1940s. His tenure coincided with a turbulent period that included the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake and the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, crises that shaped public expectations of the government during his short premiership.

Murayama’s international legacy rests chiefly on his August 15, 1995, statement on the 50th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II. In what became known as the Murayama statement, he acknowledged that "Japan, following a mistaken national policy, advanced along the road to war, and, through its colonial rule and aggression, caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly to those of...