Japanese Deputy Prime Minister refers to Pacific War as “Greater East Asia War”

Japanese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Taro Aso. (AFP/Yonhap News)

Taro Aso’s frequent use of term criticized as effort to whitewash Japan’s WWII aggressions 　

Japanese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Taro Aso once again used the term “Greater East Asia War,” which is widely seen as whitewashing Japan’s history of invading other Asian countries, during an event where officials from the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) were invited to attend.

The term, which portrays Japan’s war efforts as intended to “liberate” Asian colonies, is considered taboo even within Japan.

Aso used the term “Greater East Asia War” during a roundtable talk on Sept. 17 with invited officials from the JSDF and Ministry of Defense at the Prime Minister’s residence in Tokyo. During a toast, Aso referred to “someone who served Japanese Ambassador to the United Kingdom Shigeru Yoshida as a military office before the Greater East Asia War began.” The remark came during his explanation about a figure who had contributed to the foundation of the National Defense Academy of Japan, which grooms future JSDF leaders.

While Aso did not use the term “Greater East Asia War” specifically in the context of whitewashing the Pacific War, the very use of the term is seen as problematic. Japan first began using the term in 1937, with “Greater East Asia War” adopted as official terminology at a 1941 Cabinet meeting under Hideki Tojo. The term comes from the “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere” concept formerly proclaimed by Japan, which pursued the “liberation of Asian colonies from imperial European and American rule to form a co-prosperity sphere and achieving self-sufficiency among Asian countries.”

After Japan’s defeat, the occupying Allied forces’ General Headquarters (GHQ) banned the term’s use in official documents. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and others have used expressions such as “the past war” in public settings, but none has used the term “Greater East Asia War.”

This was not the first time Aso has used the “Greater East Asia War” term. He previously came under fire for using the term when he was reappointed as Prime Minister in 2008. When asked by reporters about his position on Japan’s past wars, Aso replied, “I think the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese [wars] were a bit different in kind from the so-called ‘Greater East Asia War,’ or World War Two,” prompting a barrage of criticism.

By Cho Ki-weon, Tokyo correspondent

Please direct comments or questions to [[e-mail]]