World Notes JAPAN

Japanese officials are almost unfailingly circumspect. Then there is Seisuke Okuno, director-general of Japan's National Land Agency. Last month Okuno provoked protests throughout Asia by declaring that his country "was by no means the aggressor nation" in World War II. On a recent visit to China, which suffered at Japan's hands from 1931 to 1945, Foreign Minister Sosuke Uno apologized for that remark. But last week Okuno was at it again, telling the Diet that Japan "had no intention of invading China."

In South Korea, which was part of a Japanese colony from 1910 to 1945, the daily Kyunghyang Shinmun expressed outrage at Okuno's "chauvinistic psychology." China's People's Daily called for "effective measures" to counter Okuno's message. After initially hesitating, Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita on Friday demanded and received Okuno's resignation.