Community-Focused Apologia in International Affairs: Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama's Apology

Abstract

The author examines community-focused apologies within international affairs. Specifically, he argues that this form of rhetoric functions as a rhetorical first step to healing relationships that have been hurt by the transgressions one group committed against another. In international affairs, transnational actors, typically nation-states through their political leaders, articulate community-focused apologia to mend relations between peoples, which may serve build a common path toward peace and deepen relationships between these actors. To illustrate this idea, he uses Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama's 1995 Murayama , T. ( 1995 , August 15 ). Statement by Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama on August 15, 1995, the fiftieth anniversary of the Asia-Pacific war. www.gainfo.org/SFPT/JapanPmMurayamaStatement15Aug1995.htm (Accessed Febrary 3, 2003) . [Google Scholar] apology for crimes Japan committed during its wartime past. Murayama's apology was an important step in mending relations between Japan and its neighbors. This article provides a better understanding as to the motives and options rhetors may use in apologizing for past injustices and serves to broaden the way we conceptualize the rhetorical genre of apologia.

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