Japan commemorated the 60th anniversary of its surrender at the end of the Second World War today by issuing a fresh apology for its invasions of countries across Asia during the conflict.

In another apparent show of contrition, Junichiro Koizumi, the Japanese Prime Minister, also decided not to visit the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, where war criminals are buried alongside Japanese soldiers.

But Mr Koizumi's public statement of regret today stopped short of offering the unambiguous apology demanded by China and British POW groups. And an edited version of the statement, issued for use inside Japan, cut out still more of the contrite language.

China, where the Japanese invasion remains a source of enormous tension, greeted the apology, which echoed statements in the past, in a guarded manner. Protesters marched on the Japanese consulate in Hong Kong and Chinese police provided extra security outside the Japanese Embassy in Beijing.

Mr Koizumi's public statement, which was subsequently edited for domestic audiences, echoed the form of words used by Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama to mark the 50th anniversary of the surrender.

"Japan caused huge damage and suffering to many countries, especially the people of Asia, with its colonisation and aggression," he said.

"Humbly accepting this fact of history, we again express our deep remorse and heartfelt apology and offer our condolences to the victims of the war at home and abroad," said Mr Koizumi, using the expression "owabi" for apology, rather than "shazai", which suggests unambiguous shame.

Later, Mr Koizumi, who faces a general election on September 11, appeared on television with Emperor Akihito, the son of Emperor Hirohito, who signed the surrender, and bowed before an alter of chrysanthemums to remember Japan's three million war dead.

Although Mr Koizumi did not attend a memorial service at the Yasukuni Shrine, two of his cabinet ministers and 47 other MPs joined thousands of others to pay their respects to the dead.

The exact phrasing of Japan's regret for its invasions during the Second World War, which killed millions from the Philippines to Burma to the Koreas, is the subject of considerable debate in Japan, where right wing organisations believe that national pride has been destroyed by sixty years of contrition.

In contrast, countries across Asia insist that Japan has never fully taken responsibility for its aggression. Mr Koizumi has been repeatedly criticised for visiting the Yasukuni Shrine and for allowing textbooks to be distributed to Japanese schoolchildren which describe the Rape of Nanking, in which 300,000 Chinese civilians were killed in 1937, as "an incident".

Tensions have also been raised by disputes between Japan, China, Taiwan and South Korea over the ownership of drilling rights for valuable oil and gas reserves in the East China Sea.

Today, the Chinese Government said it had "taken note" of Mr Koizumi’s remarks, but did not directly respond.

"It will serve the basic, long-term interests of Japan to have a sincere and responsible attitude toward its history of militarism and invasion," said a Foreign Ministry statement.

In Hong Kong, which was occupied by the Japanese Imperial Army from 1941 to 1945, protesters marched on the Japanese consulate chanting: "Japan’s hands are full of fresh blood".

North and South Korea used the anniversary to organise a show of unity. Last night, the two countries played a friendly football match and today, which is a national holiday in both countries, 40 families divided by the heavily mined border between the countries used a new fibre optic cable to communicate by videolink.

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