Japan shouldn't cave to foreign pressure on PM war anniversary remarks - aide

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attends a lower house special committee session on security-related legislation at the parliament in Tokyo July 15, 2015. REUTERS/Toru Hanai

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan should not let foreign countries make diplomatic capital out of its wartime past, an aide to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Thursday, as the author of a landmark 1995 apology urged Abe not to backtrack as it marks the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two.

The conservative Abe has said he upholds past statements including then-premier Tomiichi Murayama's "heartfelt apology" for the suffering caused by Japanese military aggression during the war.