Seiji Maehara made the gesture in person on Thursday to five men now in their 80s and 90s, who travelled to Tokyo from Australia with their families more than six decades after the end of the war.

"Minister Maehara reiterated Japan's feelings of deep remorse and heartfelt apology for the tremendous damage and suffering inflicted on many people during the war," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The Australian government said it welcomed the apology "for the horrors they endured under Japanese control in World War II". The gesture was made "in a spirit of reconciliation", it added.

Attending the meeting was 89-year-old Australian Norm Anderton, who was used as slave labour by the Japanese on the Thai Burma railway, also known as the Death Railway owing to the tens of thousands who died during its construction.

Anderton said Maehara's apology "expressed great remorse for the suffering that was inflicted on us". "It was a very moving experience," he told Australian broadcaster ABC.

Another former POW Harold Ramsey, also 89, from Victoria state, said the apology was "really good, very sincere".

"We waited a long time but it was sincere and a much better time than when I was here before in 1944," he told news radio programme AM.

Maehara also announced that Japan would return to Australia historical records of former Australian POWs held by Japan during the war.

Australian foreign minister Kevin Rudd welcomed the offer of records "which is made in the spirit of cooperation".

The Australian government hopes the Japanese records may shed light on the fate of the members of army unit Lark Force, many of whom were lost when the Japanese transport Montevideo Maru was sunk by a US submarine in 1942.