Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko arrive by a Royal Canadian Mounted Police escorted landau at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Monday.
REUTERS

Emperor expresses sorrow for past hardships in Japan-Canada ties

Tuesday 07th July, 10:12 AM JST

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chuckers at 01:56 PM JST - 7th July

It looks like they are in a horse and buggy in the picture.
mistersmarmy at 01:59 PM JST - 7th July

Hawkeye, this is why I think its probably best NOT to mention the war.
mistersmarmy at 02:07 PM JST - 7th July

and the countries not holding grudges against Japan for actions carried out during WWII include Germany, Italy and ?
ratpack at 02:26 PM JST - 7th July

Good on them for their words. But in all reality how would they know what hardship really means?
sf2k at 02:55 PM JST - 7th July

horse and buggy depicted in the picture is traditional. Remember Canada is a constitutional monarchy like Japan & Britain, so the Gov General's office uses that for state visits denoting his importance. Our Queen is in Britain but is only ceremonial like the Emperor. He's picked a nice time in June. But I hope he can avoid the current garbage strike in Toronto!
sf2k at 02:56 PM JST - 7th July

interesting the that news in Canada didn't fixate on this part of his speech, but rather on how green everything was and our ability to put green into metropolises.
franz75 at 05:55 PM JST - 7th July

hhhmmm... it's maybe time to stop apologizing...
stirfry at 06:31 PM JST - 7th July

i could see how the quest for world domination might be viewed as a hardship by the ones being killed
Seiharinokaze at 06:56 PM JST - 7th July

‘

Sadly, the relationship between the two countries was ruined by World War II and my heart goes out to the people who suffered hardships created by the battles,’’ the emperor said,....

His remarks are always rather deliberate. He didn't mention who or which side was all to blame. He used the expression "was ruined by World War II" and sent his heart not exclusively to sufferers on the other side. This family is ingenious for surviving on both domestic and world level. They have slipped through history like a wind you try to beat.
rogerbentham at 08:17 PM JST - 7th July

i thought they were in england judging by the beefeater uniforms. sorrow? they shouldn't have sided with hitler then.
smithinjapan at 09:14 PM JST - 7th July

The ties go back 80 years, and the war happened in that time. Hence, mention of it as a time when not only were ties strained, but things and lives destroyed, literally and figuratively. There is nothing wrong with expressing sorrow over such events, and reflecting on the tragedies. In fact, so long as they didn't dwell on it and no one cast any stones as to who's to blame, I think it's a good thing.

Hope the rest of the trip goes smoothly.
Sarge at 09:40 PM JST - 7th July

"They are scheduled to stop in Hawaii before returning to Tokyo"

Excellent idea!
usaexpat at 11:33 PM JST - 7th July

Not to sound cold as any appology is welcome but Canada managed to escape WWII mostly unscathed in comparison to many other nations. I believe Canada had something like 45,000 military casualties compared to 400,000 for the US and 2 million for Japan plus another 500,000 or so civilian deaths. I think effort would be better spent mouthing these words to the Chinese who lost something like 20 million people between civilian and military deaths.
Starviking at 11:35 PM JST - 7th July

usaexpat - what's the population difference between the USA and Canada? Eh?
OssanAmerica at 02:19 AM JST - 8th July

The ties go back 80 years, and the war happened in that time. Hence, >mention of it as a time when not only were ties strained, but things and >lives destroyed, literally and figuratively. There is nothing wrong with >expressing sorrow over such events, and reflecting on the tragedies. In >fact, so long as they didn't dwell on it and no one cast any stones as >to who's to blame, I think it's a good thing.

smith...very well said.

'past relations were DAMAGED by WWII', really? wow, I guess that's one >way of putting it. gosh.

What, they weren't damaged? They were made better? Back to remedial English for you.