DATE=8/15/95

INTRO: JAPAN, THE NATION WHOSE SURRENDER 50 YEARS AGO (TUESDAY) ENDED WORLD WAR TWO, MARKED THE ANNIVERSARY WITH A SOLEMN CEREMONY AND AN APOLOGY FROM ITS PRIME MINISTER. V-O-A TOKYO CORRESPONDENT JERRY MCKINNEY REPORTS JAPAN'S EMPEROR USED THE OCCASION TO PRAY FOR WORLD PEACE.

TEXT: EVERY YEAR, THE ANNIVERSARY OF JAPAN'S SURRENDER IS MARKED BY MOURNING CEREMONIES AT TOKYO'S NIPPON BUDOKAN, A PUBLIC HALL NEAR THE IMPERIAL PALACE. THE CEREMONIES ARE ATTENDED BY THE EMPEROR AND EMPRESS, PUBLIC OFFICIALS AND RELATIVES OF THOSE INJURED OR KILLED DURING THE WAR.

THIS YEAR EIGHT-THOUSAND PEOPLE ATTENDED. THAT WAS A RECORD FOR THE CEREMONIES BUT FAR FEWER THAN THOSE WHO WERE AT CEREMONIES IN HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI MARKING THE ATOM BOMBING OF THOSE CITIES.

JAPANESE EMPEROR AKIHITO MADE A BRIEF STATEMENT OF MOURNING FOR THE WAR DEAD AND SAID HE PRAYS THAT THE RAVAGES OF WAR WILL NEVER BE REPEATED. HE ALSO OFFERED HIS CONDOLENCES TO ALL VICTIMS OF THE WAR.

PRIME MINISTER TOMIICHI MURAYAMA TOLD THOSE ATTENDING THAT THE WAR, AS HE PUT IT, "CAUSED TREMENDOUS PAIN AND SORROW TO PEOPLE IN MANY COUNTRIES". HE WENT ON TO OFFER WHAT HE CALLED HIS "HEARTFELT CONDOLENCES" TO THOSE PEOPLE.

HE ALSO SPOKE OF THE MORE THAN THREE MILLION JAPANESE WHO DIED INTHE WAR AND OFFERED CONDOLENCES TO THEIR SURVIVORS.

EARLIER, MR. MURAYAMA HAS ISSUED AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT CONTAINING A CLEAR APOLOGY FOR JAPAN'S ACTIONS BEFORE AND DURING THE WAR.

HE SAID JAPAN HAD FOLLOWED A MISTAKEN NATIONAL POLICY OF COLONIAL RULE AND AGGRESSION THAT CAUSED TREMENDOUS DAMAGE AND SUFFERING TO THE PEOPLE OF MANY COUNTRIES, IN PARTICULAR THOSE IN ASIA. HE THEN SAID, IN HIS WORDS, "IN THE HOPE THAT NO SUCH MISTAKE BE MADE IN THE FUTURE, I REGARD, IN A SPIRIT OF HUMANITY, THESE IRREFUTABLE FACTS OF HISTORY, AND EXPRESS HERE ONCE AGAIN MY FEELINGS OF DEEP REMORSE AND STATE MY HEARTFELT APOLOGY."

MR. MURAYAMA ALSO SAID THE NATION MUST CONVEY THE HORRORS OF WAR TO ITS YOUNGER GENERATIONS SO THE MISTAKES OF THE PAST WILL NOT BE REPEATED.

CONTROVERSY OVER HOW JAPAN SHOULD DEAL WITH ITS ROLE IN THE WAR IS A CONTINUING ISSUE. MR. MURAYAMA'S STATEMENT WAS DESIGNED TO BOLSTER A MUCH WEAKER RESOLUTION, APPROVED BY PARLIAMENT IN JUNE, EXPRESSING REMORSE FOR JAPAN'S ACTIONS. SEVERAL RECENT PRIME MINISTERS AND OTHER OFFICIALS HAVE OFFERED SIMILAR EXPRESSIONS OF REGRET BUT MR. MURAYAMA'S IS SEEN AS ONE OF THE STRONGEST SINCE IT WAS APPROVED IN ADVANCE BY THE CABINET.

IN A SEPARATE CEREMONY, AT LEAST NINE MEMBERS OF MR. MURAYAMA'S CABINET VISITED A SHRINE TO THE NATION'S WAR DEAD. VISITS TO THE SHRINE BY SUCH OFFICIALS ARE DISCOURAGED BECAUSE A NUMBER OF JAPANESE OFFICIALS WHO WERE EXECUTED AS WAR CRIMINALS ARE ENSHRINED THERE.