Former Japanese prime minister Murayama, known for apology over wartime aggression, dies at 101

Japan’s former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, who was known for his bushy eyebrows and his 1995 “Murayama statement” apologizing to Asian victims of his country’s aggression, has died of old age

Japan’s former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, who was known for his bushy eyebrows and his 1995 “Murayama statement” apologizing to Asian victims of his country’s aggression, died Friday of old age. He was 101.

Murayama died at a hospital in his hometown Oita, southwestern Japan, according to a statement from Mizuho Fukushima, the head of Japan's Social Democratic Party.

As head of what was then known as the Japan Socialist Party, Murayama led a coalition government from June 1994 to January 1996.