"We have listened here to the delegates who have recalled the terrible human suffering and the great material destruction of the late war in the Pacific. It is with feelings of sorrow that we recall the part played in that catastrophic human experience by the old Japan"
About this Quote
The key phrase is "the old Japan". It's a political instrument disguised as a moral one. By cordoning guilt off to a previous incarnation of the nation, Yoshida offers listeners a usable apology that doesn't indict the present state he is trying to rebuild. "Old Japan" implies a break with militarism, a conversion narrative that aligns neatly with the postwar order: constitutional pacifism at home, reintegration abroad, and a Japan that can be trusted as a partner rather than watched as a threat.
There's subtext aimed outward and inward at once. Outward: a bid for legitimacy in international institutions, and for relief from the pariah status that lingers after defeat. Inward: a way to cultivate national dignity without denying catastrophe, shifting shame into a past tense that can be mourned and then archived. Even the choice of "sorrow" over "guilt" matters; sorrow is communal, guilt is prosecutorial. Yoshida is negotiating memory as policy: offering just enough moral recognition to move forward, while preserving a narrative of national renewal essential to economic recovery and Cold War alignment.
Quote Details
| Topic | War |
|---|---|
| Source | Verified source: Prime Minister Yoshida's Speech at the San Francisco Peac... (Shigeru Yoshida, 1951)
Evidence: We have listened here to the delegates who have recalled the terrible human suffering, and the great material destruction of the late war in the Pacific. It is with feelings of sorrow that we recall the part played in that catastrophic human experience by the old Japan. (pp. 313–317 (in the source volume cited below)). This line appears in Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida’s speech delivered in San Francisco on September 7, 1951, at the San Francisco Peace Conference (leading to the Treaty of Peace with Japan, signed September 8, 1951). The text is reproduced by the GRIPS/University of Tokyo “The World and Japan” database, which cites as its underlying primary Japanese-government compilation: Gaimusho joyaku-kyoku hokika (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Treaties Bureau, Legal Affairs Division), Heiwa joyaku no teiketsu ni kansuru chosho VII, pp. 313–317. In the online transcript, the quoted passage appears near the end of the speech. Other candidates (1) 日本外交文書 (2002)85.1% ... We have listened here to the delegates who have recalled the terrible human suffering , and the great material de... |
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Yoshida, Shigeru. (2026, February 22). We have listened here to the delegates who have recalled the terrible human suffering and the great material destruction of the late war in the Pacific. It is with feelings of sorrow that we recall the part played in that catastrophic human experience by the old Japan. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-have-listened-here-to-the-delegates-who-have-102224/
Chicago Style
Yoshida, Shigeru. "We have listened here to the delegates who have recalled the terrible human suffering and the great material destruction of the late war in the Pacific. It is with feelings of sorrow that we recall the part played in that catastrophic human experience by the old Japan." FixQuotes. February 22, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-have-listened-here-to-the-delegates-who-have-102224/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"We have listened here to the delegates who have recalled the terrible human suffering and the great material destruction of the late war in the Pacific. It is with feelings of sorrow that we recall the part played in that catastrophic human experience by the old Japan." FixQuotes, 22 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-have-listened-here-to-the-delegates-who-have-102224/. Accessed 2 Mar. 2026.
