Japan Press Weekly

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2016 October 19 - 25 [POLITICS]

Cabinet members and lawmakers visit war-glorifying Yasukuni Shrine

A large number of Diet members, including Cabinet ministers, paid visits to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo during this year’s autumn festival at the shrine. By doing this, they effectively gave their endorsement to the shrine’s historical view that Japan’s past war was a just war in self-defense. China and South Korea voiced their opposition.

With the four-day festival opening on October 17, 85 Diet members on the second day made a group visit to the shrine. The visitors included members of the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Party, Nippon Ishin no Kai, the Party for Japanese Kokoro, and independents.

On October 19, Internal Affairs Minister Takaichi Sanae and Minister for Promoting Dynamic Engagement of All Citizens Kato Katsunobu visited the Yasukuni Shrine. Takaichi has made the shrine visit on the occasions of the spring festival, the anniversary of the end of WWII, and the autumn festival since she took up the post in September 2014. Prime Minister Abe Shinzo refrained from visiting the shrine but made ritual offerings on the first day of the festival.

The Yasukuni Shrine is notorious for its rightist view of history. It operates its war museum to promote its claim that Japan’s past war was not for the purpose of invasion but for the liberation of Asian people from western powers. Diet members’ visits or offerings to the controversial shrine mean that they essentially support the shrine’s attempt to distort history.

Regarding this issue, spokespersons of the Chinese and South Korean foreign ministries each issued a comment that Japanese politicians need to correctly recognize the historical facts.

Past related articles:
> PM Abe again makes offerings to Yasukuni Shrine [October 18, 2016]
> All new Abe Cabinet ministers from LDP are members of ‘Yasukuni’ faction [August 5, 2016]