This is a list of war apology statements issued by Japan regarding war crimes committed by the Empire of Japan during World War II. The statements were made at and after the end of World War II in Asia, from the 1950s to present day. Controversies remain to this day about war crimes of the past. Background At the end of the Pacific Theater of World War II, the Imperial Japanese government accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration. In 1945, the unconditional surrender of the Empire of Japan was formally confirmed aboard the Allied battleship, USS Missouri (BB-63). Once the formal documents were signed, General Douglas MacArthur, representing the Allies, was named the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers in Japan. Emperor Hirohito let it be known to General MacArthur that he was prepared to apologize formally to General MacArthur for Japan's actions during World War II—including an apology for the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor. Apology rebuffed In one version of the formal apology, Emperor Hirohito, the Japanese monarch, is reported to have said to General MacArthur: "I come before you to offer myself to the judgment of the powers you represent, as one to bear sole responsibility for every political and military decision made and action taken by my people in the conduct of the war." In a second version of the formal apology, Patrick Lennox Tierney claims that he was an eyewitness when the Emperor came to the Allied Supreme Commander's headquarters to present this apology. Tierney was in his office on the fifth floor of the Dai-Ichi Insurance Building in Tokyo. This was the same floor where MacArthur's suite was situated. Tierney reported that when the emperor arrived, MacArthur refused to admit him or acknowledge him, and the pivotal moment passed. Many years later, Tierney made an effort to explain his understanding of the significance of what he claimed he had personally witnessed: "Apology is a very important thing in Japan. ... It was the rudest, crudest, most uncalled for thing I have ever witnessed in my life." Whether true or not—issues which might have been addressed were allowed to remain open, and unanticipated consequences have unfolded across the decades since then. History 1950s 1957: Prime Minister Kishi Nobusuke said to the people of Burma: "We view with deep regret the vexation we caused to the people of Burma in the war just