October 19, 2023

A group of pro-Yasukuni parliamentarians on October 18 visited the Yasukuni Shrine, an ideological symbol of Japanese militarism during the prewar/wartime period, for the annual autumn ritual. Ninety-six Dietmembers, including those of the Liberal Democratic Party and the “Nippon Ishin no Kai” party, participated in the group visit to the shrine on this day.

On the previous day, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio dedicated a votive offering, and Economic Revitalization Minister Shindo Yoshitaka and Economic Security Minister Takaichi Sanae offered prayers at the shrine. On October 16, Economic Minister Nishimura Yasutoshi paid a visit to the shrine.

The Yasukuni Shrine is a Shinto facility which glorifies and justifies Japan’s past war of aggression as “a just war for Asian liberation”. Offering prayers and dedicating ritual objects by Cabinet ministers and Dietmembers to the shrine are equivalent to demonstrating both at home and abroad that they share the pro-Yasukuni historical perception. Such acts taken part in by politicians violate Article 20 of the postwar Constitution which stipulates the principle of the separation of state and religion.