A scene at a Tokyo courthouse last month showed why Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has had to work all year on a statement marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. As WSJ's Henry Hoenig reports:

Dozens of people stood in the heat, hoping to win a lottery for a seat to hear two of Japan’s most renowned historians debate, as part of a libel suit, whether the term “sex slaves” accurately described the women in Japan’s World War II military brothels.

That the subject still draws a crowd after seven decades shows how divided the country still is—and helps to explain why Japan’s statements about the war have swung back and forth over the years, to the annoyance of its neighbors.

This year’s, to be released Friday, is unlikely to satisfy Asian countries that have had frosty relations with Japan and want Mr. Abe to deliver a full-throated apology like some of his predecessors have done.

Read the full story on WSJ.com.

Video: Many Japanese were focused on the legacy of the country's war history as the 70th anniversary of its surrender in World War II neared.