70-year-old Iwata Ryuzo chants scriptures to show his apology and sorrow in front of the skeletons of Chinese victims of Japanese troops' invasion in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province May 8. (Xinhua Photo)

Japanese monk Iwata Ryuzo knelt down and prayed at a memorial for the war of resistance against Japanese aggression Sunday in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province.

For four times, the 70-year-old monk lit incense, chanted scriptures and prayed for the Chinese victims massacred by Japanese aggressors.

"I apologize to the Chinese people from the bottom of my heart," he told Xinhua in an interview. "But some Japanese are not willing to do so... Unless we are sincerely introspective and apologetic about our past, the tragedies I see here today would be likely to repeat themselves in the future."

The war memorial in Shenyang is also known as the Memorial Hall of the Sept. 18 Incident in 1931, when Japanese intruding troops blew up a section of the Dalian-Harbin Railway near Shenyang and started a massive armed aggression of northeast China.

Iwata Ryuzo, born in 1936 in Taipei, had voiced his apologies to the Chinese people in nine cities including Shanghai, Wuhan, Changchun and Harbin. He is expected to reach Dalian Monday to unbosom his apologies.

Iwata Ryuzo bows to show his apology and sorrow for Chinese victims of Japanese troops' invasion in Changchun May 8. (Xinhua Photo)

Iwata Ryuzo kneels down to show his apology and sorrow for Chinese victims at the display hall of Japanese detachment Unit 731 in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province May 11. (Xinhua Photo)

Iwata Ryuzo shows his apology and sorrow for Chinese victims at the display hall of Japanese detachment Unit 731 in Harbin May 11. (Xinhua Photo)

Japanese monk Iwada Ryuzo confesses crimes of war in front of "Mess Graves" in Luoyang, central China's Henan Province, May 2. This is the second time for the 70-year-old Japanese monk to come to China in order to do confession for crimes that Japanese invaders committed during World War II. (CNSPhoto)

Japanese monk Iwada Ryuzo confesses crimes of war in front of the list of martyrs of Wuhan Battle between Chinese people and Japanese invaders during the World War II in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, April 25. This is the second time for the 70-year-old Japanese monk to come to China in order to do confession for crimes that Japanese invaders committed during World War II. (Xinhua Photo)

Japanese monk Iwada Ryuzo (L) looks at the list of martyrs of Wuhan Battle between Chinese people and Japanese invaders during the World War II, accompanied by Chinese interpreter, in Wuhan, April 25. (Xinhua Photo)

Editor: Wing