  Stopping Yasukuni Shrine visits is only option for Koizumi -- Akahata editorial, November 29 (abridged)Asked in the Diet whether he will visit Yasukuni Shrine in the future or not, Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro stated, "I will make an appropriate judgment." In light of the prime minister's duty to abide by the constitutional principles of peace and democracy, "appropriate" judgment in this case should be to stop visiting Yasukuni Shrine. Visit to Yasukuni contradicts no war pledge Until the end of world War II, Yasukuni Shrine was a special war shrine used to mobilize the people for the war of aggression. Controled by the military, it enshrined the war dead as gods to plant the idea that the greatest honor is in enshrinement for giving one's life to the emperor. As the main institution of national shintoism, Yasukuni Shrine played an important role in promoting militarism and carrying out the war of aggression. Yasukuni Shrine after the war became a religious corporation, but it did not reflect on its role in the war of aggression. To the contrary, it enshrined Class-A war criminals in Japan's war of aggression, including former Prime Minister Tojo Hideki. For the incumbent prime minister to visit Yasukuni Shrine for worship means expressing his special regard to it and his support for the war of aggression. If he is to mourn for the war dead, he must make clear that the error of going to the war of aggression must not be repeated. The Constitution's Preamble states, "We, the Japanese people, ... resolved that never again shall we be visited with the horrors of war through the action of government, do proclaim that sovereign power resides with the people." This comes true only when Prime Minister Koizumi stops visiting Yasukuni Shrine. Self-righteousness will cause isolation In the recent Japan-China summit talks, Chinese President Hu-Jintao urged Prime Minister Koizumi to stop visiting Yasukuni Shrine. It stands to reason that people of Asia, in which many fell victim to Japan's war of aggression, oppose his Yasukuni visits. Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Takebe Tsutomu called for visits to the shrine to be continued, saying that "stopping it will give the impression that Japan has capitulated to the Chinese pressure." A visit to Yasukuni Shrine is itself an act violating the Constitution. It should be stopped, with or without reference to China. (end) |