Origins
- Beginning of 1990s, “age of apology”
- Uptick after World War II (September 1939–September 1945)
Purpose
- Uplift and incorporate marginalized communities into national histories
- Restore agency or moral worth for victims
- Human rights and democratic state legitimacy
  - Recommitment to norms of responsible leadership
  - Transparency and accountability
  - Liberal practice
    - Self-critique
    - Critical thinking
  - Attempt to establish nation as “ultimately good”
- Geopolitical maneuvering, diplomatic strategy
Appropriateness
- State vs. government ^14b79d
  - National apology not based on political party in control
- Appropriate emotion
- Performativity
  - Recognized as an apology
  - Not another semantic statement
  - Not just intentionality of the individual
  - Part of broader narrative frameworks
- Repetition
  - Not a stand-alone statement
  - Part of a larger political and social project

German formal apologies

Considered gold standard for appropriate apologies
1952: Israel-West Germany reparation agreement signed
- Payments to Israel and individual Jews
1960s: Holocaust and wartime responsibilities included in textbooks
1970: West German Chancellor Willy Brandt falls to his knees, expresses guilt for Holocaust at Warsaw ghetto
1985: Holocaust denial outlawed as “insult” to personal honor
1994: Holocaust denial criminalized in anti-incitement law
- Banned Nazi symbols and slogans
1990: East Germany apology to Israel and Jews
2012: German Medical Association — medical atrocities

US formal apologies

Personal, not formal, apology
Language of apology
Tomiichi Murayama (1994–1996)
- Apology for WWII and Comfort Women
- Asian Women’s Fund (people of Japan)
Withdrawals → government apology
- 3/1/2007: Shinzō Abe stated that there was no evidence that Japanese government had kept sex slaves
Textbook issues
2015: Japan-South Korea Comfort Women Agreement
- Once Park Geun-hye out, dissolved
- Victims not involved in negotiation
- Finality in conversation