Many Japanese want PM Abe's apology for Tokyo's WW2 atrocities

A majority of Japanese appear to be hoping for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to express Tokyo's remorse and apology over Japan's past wartime atrocities in his statement to mark a scheduled World War Two-related event.

A recent survey published by Japan's Asahi Shimbun daily, shows 52 percent of Japanese want Abe to put the words 'remorse' and 'apology' in his statement to be read during the expected August ceremony to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two.

The survey also showed that 62 percent of the respondents evaluate two previous prime ministers' statements, in which the Tokyo government apologized for the wrongdoings during their colonial rules across Asia in the 1900s, as 'meaningful.'