Construction giant Mitsubishi Materials Corp became the first major Japanese company to apologize for using captured US soldiers as slave laborers during World War II, offering remorse on Sunday for "the tragic events in our past".

A company representative offered the apology on behalf of its predecessor, Mitsubishi Mining Co, at a special ceremony at a Los Angeles museum.

"Today we apologize remorsefully for the tragic events in our past," Mitsubishi Materials Senior Executive Officer Hikaru Kimura told an audience at the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles.