A senior Japanese politician's claim that Japan was forced into the second World War by the United States was condemned by an opposition leader yesterday as wrong and irresponsible.
The statement by the former defence minister, Mr Hosei Norota, that Japan was not to blame for its entry into the war also brought a furious reaction from South Korea, a former Japanese colony.
The remarks were also expected to inflame other countries across Asia that were invaded by Japan's Imperial Army in the 1930s and 1940s and to exacerbate the problems of the embattled Prime Minister, Mr Yoshiro Mori.
"Faced with oil and other embargoes from other countries, Japan had no choice but to venture out southward to secure natural resources," Mr Norota, who is chairman of the budget committee of the lower house of parliament, was quoted as telling supporters of the dominant Liberal Democratic Party.
"In other words, Japan had fallen prey to a scheme of the United States. This is what many historians are saying," he said, in remarks reminiscent of the justification used by Japanese militarists in the 1930s for their invasion of much of Asia.
South Korea, which suffered Japan's harsh colonial rule from 1910 to 1945, urged Tokyo to act responsibly so as not to hamper improving relations between the two countries.
"We regret Mr Norota's remarks, which glamourised the war and distorted the pain of Asian countries," the South Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "His remarks are not desirable for Japan or for bilateral co-operation," it said.
A senior official in Japan's main opposition Democratic Party, Mr Hirotaka Akamatsu, told reporters that Mr Norota's remarks were "erroneous, irresponsible and anachronistic", Kyodo news agency said.
Mr Mori declined to directly comment on Mr Norota's remarks when pressed in a budget panel debate, but he said the government stood by the statement made by then prime minister Mr Tomiichi Murayama in 1995 on the 50th anniversary of the end of the war.
Mr Mori already faces the biggest crisis of his 10-month rule amid mounting talk that he will have to resign next month.
The question mark over who will run Japan comes amid growing concern over the nation's faltering economy and tense relations with the United States after a US submarine hit and sank a Japanese training ship off Hawaii, leaving nine people missing and presumed dead.