Japan marks 77th anniversary of end of World War II

Japan on Monday marked the 77th anniversary of its surrender in World War II, amid halting momentum to achieve a peaceful world due to Russia’s nearly six-month invasion of Ukraine and mounting tensions between the U.S. and China over Taiwan.

A government-sponsored ceremony to mourn the around 2.3 million military personnel and 800,000 civilians who perished in the war on the Japanese side started before noon in Tokyo, though in a scaled-back form for the third straight year due to the country facing another wave of the coronavirus pandemic.