The
Murayama Cabinet was a coalition government, sometimes described as a
grand coalition, which played a significant part in ending the often explosive
LDP-
JSP conflict which had dominated every election prior, even with third parties beginning to form in the seventies and eighties. The coalition was described by
The New York Times as a "lopsided deal that left Mr. Murayama at the mercy of the Liberal Democrats."
Murayama Statement At a ceremony commemorating the end of the
Pacific War, Murayama announced the "Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the War's End", an official apology for the "invasion" and "colonial domination" of
Asia that Japan undertook before and during the Pacific War and
Second Sino-Japanese War. The Prime Minister issued a statement entitled "On the Commemoration of the End of World War II" after a unified Cabinet meeting. All successive cabinets since Murayama have clearly stated that they will follow the statement. The aptly name "Murayama Statement" has become established, and it is treated as the official position of the Japanese government. The Murayama Statement is considered to be the official historical understanding taken by the Japanese government. Conservative politicians and others have made comments which often differ from the Statement with denial for crimes committed by Japan, and for this, they are usually criticized heavily by the governments of
China and
South Korea. Most undertake the purview that "Japan has officially apologized and compensated the countries concerned for the acts of aggression it allegedly committed during the war, there is no need for further apologies." Others have also stated that the Murayama Statement was pointless, with the fact that Japan committed the acts being something that cannot be helped. In November 2008, Chief of the Air Staff
Toshio Tamogami published a paper titled "Was Japan an Aggressive Nation?". He was heavily criticized by incumbent Prime Minister
Tarō Asō for straying from the view established by the Murayama Statement, and was fired, with Tamogami going on to become a significant figure for the far-right in Japan, as displayed by his run in the
2014 Tokyo gubernatorial election. Before taking office as prime minister,
Shinzo Abe had made statements critical of the Murayama Statement, and attention was being drawn both domestically and internationally to see what kind of statement Shinzo Abe would issue in 2015 on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the end of the war. But on 5 January of the same year, At the New Year's press conference, he stated, "The
Abe Cabinet has inherited the positions of previous cabinets, including the Murayama Statement. On that basis, I would like to announce a new, future-oriented statement", making it clear that the Abe Cabinet would at least somewhat respect the Murayama Statement.
Establishment of Asian Women's Fund In August 1994, a plan was announced to provide condolence money through private funds to women and families who were forced by Japanese soldiers in World War 2 to work as
comfort women. we found common ground and managed to launch the fund. As the former comfort women continue to age, we have managed to convey the feelings of apology from the Japanese people while they were still alive, and those who went through heartbreaking experiences. Despite various criticisms, this was the only option available under the pressing circumstances of the time." When asked about the reason for the delay in dispatching the
Japan Self-Defense Forces to the site of the earthquake, Murayama, who had been relatively popular as a prime minister, received strong criticism from the Japanese opposition and his cabinet approval ratings took a downturn. Murayama himself said "I think the initial response could have been done more quickly if we had the current crisis management system in place. I cannot bear the shame that so many people died. Every year on the morning of the 7th, I hold a silent prayer at my home." He also said that "There was no crisis management response function at all. There is no excuse for the delay in launching the initial response. Yes, I am truly sorry." He stated further that there was no argument or excuse for the failure in response. At the time, , who held a role in the Prime Minister's Office as the longest serving
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary in Japanese history, said "In this unprecedented and unprecedented disaster, and with an underdeveloped legal system, who else but Murayama could become the Prime Minister? Even so, it was impossible to respond quickly." On the other hand, he also said that "If you look far enough, the cause (of the lack of a system in which the Cabinet could take immediate action) was the Socialist Party. The Socialist Party continued to oppose strengthening the Cabinet's authority. Ironically, when a Prime Minister finally originated from the Socialist Party, a situation occurred where they had to manage the crisis. This was a very difficult situation. It's a story."
Coalition weakness The coalition formed by Murayama was intensely controversial. He was scheduled to submit a notification of withdrawal from the group on 17 January. It was thought that the event would be canceled due to the earthquake that occurred that early morning, but Yamahana and others submitted a notice of withdrawal from the group in the morning of the same day. The following day, 18 January, the formation of a new party was postponed, and Yamaka left the Socialist Party on 10 May.
Tokyo subway sarin attack On 20 March 1995, the
Tokyo subway sarin attack occurred, the deadliest terrorist attack in Japan as defined by modern standards. Murayama coordinated the response to the attack. His government created a 300-member task force which were tasked to interrogate witnesses and searched for evidence as Murayama appealed for public cooperation. Murayama consulted with
Chair of the National Public Safety Commission Hiromu Nonaka and Minister of Transport
Shizuka Kamei. He ordered
F-15 fighters to dispatch from the
Japan Air Self-Defense Force Chitose Base to escort the hijacked aircraft to Hakodate. The following day, Murayama ordered officials to storm aircraft in which Hokkaido and Tokyo police units that had previously been monitoring the aircraft from outside breached the aircraft. The hijacker was arrested, with only him and one passenger injured.
Diplomacy United States When the
Murayama Cabinet was formed, then-
president of the United States Bill Clinton was wary of a prime minister from the Socialist Party. During the
20th G7 summit in 1994, after Murayama spoke about his upbringing in a poor fishing village and the process that led him to aspire to become a politician, Clinton appeared to warm up more to Murayama. On 20 July 1994, in his policy speech at the 130th session of the Diet, he declared that the Self-Defense Forces were constitutional and that the
Japan-U.S. Security Treaty would be maintained, changing the policies of the Japan Socialist Party up until then and establishing the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty as fundamental policy. At this time, the manuscript for the speech read, Maintain the Japan-US security arrangement, but in the policy statement, Murayama read it as "We will firmly maintain the Japan-US security arrangement." In 1995, Murayama would later be invited to the
White House, where he and President Clinton gave a joint press conference. However, Japanese-United States relations were considered to be restrained as one of the factors for Murayama's resignation in 1996 was the failing relationship between the two nations.
Narita Airport struggle By the time the Murayama Cabinet took office, the
Sanrizuka Struggle had transitioned from violent to more non-violent resistance, although debate was still fierce on both sides. In response to the conclusions of the "Narita Airport Problem Symposium" held 15 times from November 1991 and the "Narita Airport Problem Round Table Conference" held 12 times from September 1993, Murayama decided on this issue in 1995. He apologized fully to the local community for the circumstances surrounding the airport issue. As a result, some landowners appeared willing to acquire land for the second phase of construction. Later, in 1996, a plan was developed to construct a temporary runway avoiding unpurchased land. In addition to the apology from Murayama and other government officials, the hard-line stance of residents opposed to
Narita International Airport gradually softened due to repeated efforts by neutral committee members.
Selective surname system Murayama was a strong supporter of the introduction of the selective surname system for married couples, allowing them to keep their surnames from before marriage.
Strengthening the Prime Minister's Office Upon entering the Prime Minister's Office, Murayama felt a sense of crisis because, with the exception of the prime minister, the chief cabinet secretary, and the deputy chief cabinet secretary, all staff at the Prime Minister's Office were career bureaucrats. "The Prime Minister's Office is not just an office that conducts administration, but also an office that makes political decisions." The post of "Assistant to the Prime Minister" was created for this reason. The Prime Minister's assistants were chosen from among the Diet members belonging to the three ruling parties, with
Hidenao Nakagawa, Masaru Hayakawa, Jun Nishikori, and Saburo Toida all being appointed to the office. The appointed assistant to the prime minister was in charge of providing opinions on the prime minister's speeches and answers, as well as gathering information on political issues. The post of "Aide to the Prime Minister" was considered a personal advisor to the prime minister, but the Cabinet Act was later amended and the post of "Aide to the Prime Minister" was legislated to be more political in nature. The move allowed the Liberal Democratic Party leader
Ryutaro Hashimoto to become Murayama's successor. Eventually, Murayama would go on to retire from politics overall in 2000. ==Later life and death==