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Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Emperor Showa irked by Yasukuni's war criminal enshrinement

A memo shows that in 1988 Emperor Showa expressed displeasure at the enshrinement of Class-A war criminals at Yasukuni Shrine.

The memo that contains the emperor's remarks was written on April 28, 1988, the year before the emperor's death, by the late Imperial Household Agency Grand Steward Tomita Tomohiko.

According to the memo, Emperor Hirohito commented on Yasukuni's decision in 1978 to enshrine Class-A war criminals by saying, "That is why I have not visited (the shrine) since then. That is how I feel."

The Emperor visited Yasukuni Shrine 8 times after the war. His last visit was in November 1975.

Yasukuni advocates' aim reaches impasse: JCP Chair

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on the same day published the following statement on the Emperor's remarks.

The JCP published the article "The Prime Minister's Visits and the Call of 'Yasukuni' (Akahata, June 11, 2005)," revealing that defenders of the "Yasukuni's view of history" are trying to have the justification of Japan's past war accepted as the nation's official position by developing the prime minister's Yasukuni visits into a major event attended by all cabinet members, the House of Representatives Speaker, the House of Councilors President, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and the Emperor.

The movie "Wish to Come Across You," produced by the Association for Honoring Fallen Heroes with support from Yasukuni Shrine and shown everyday at Yasukuni's Yushukan museum, openly puts forward this demand in the name of the "fallen heroes."

The revelation of the memo containing Emperor Showa's displeasure at the enshrinement of Class-A war criminals at Yasukuni with the words "That is why I have not visited (the shrine) since then. That is how I feel" shows that the "Yasukuni" advocates' scenario and objectives are failing. It also exposes more clearly how unreasonable it is for Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro to continue to visit the shrine in response to "Yasukuni" advocates' demands.

The JCP again strongly demands that the prime minister immediately stop visiting Yasukuni Shrine.
- Akahata, July 21, 2006