IT WAS a short speech, and the issue which has commanded so many column inches in recent days merited only 120 words.

Yet they said much more, subtly too. But not enough for the thousands of prisoners of war who suffered such terrible brutality at the hands of their Japanese captors and whose representatives mounted their dignified protest yesterday.

Japan properly had a rigidly-imposed constitution and system of government imposed upon it after the war which prevents its Emperor from making political statements. True, this has become a political issue.

But no political statement was required and it is a great pity that Emperor Akihito felt the weight of post-war history so heavily that he was unable to go as far as those former PoWs, who are still burdened by their awful war experiences, wanted.

The Emperor's remarks might have been so subtle as to appear bland, but he was right also to be thinking of the many millions who suffered horribly during the war, among them the innocent Japanese at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And his promise never to forget during his State visit those who still bear scars, indeed to feel sorrow and pain on their behalf, was clearly aimed at the British former PoWs.

That will never be enough for those who want, probably even more strongly with each passing year, an explicit apology. But with each passing year their want will recede, not for reasons of reconciliation, sadly, but because of age and infirmity