Japan to hold ceremony marking end of US-led occupation

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's nationalist government said Tuesday it would hold a ceremony next month marking the 1952 return of sovereignty to Tokyo and the end of post-World War II occupation by US-led forces.

The April 28 event, 61 years after the American-led administration ceded control to a civilian Japanese government, would mark "Japan's return to the international community," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference.

The ceremony would also show "Japan's determination to carve out the future, learning from our past experiences," he said.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party pledged to introduce the ceremony in its campaign for the general election last December, with many of his core supporters critical of what they say is Japan's apologetic attitude to its history.