Japan Press Weekly

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2023 July 26 - August 1 [POLITICS]

Ex-SDF chief calls for use of Yasukuni Shrine to enshrine SDF personnel who may die in future US wars

Akahata reported on July 31 that the former top uniformed officer in the Self-Defense Forces in the latest publication of the anti-constitution, rightist organization "Nippon Kaigi" pointed to the possibility that SDF members may be killed in future U.S. wars, and claims that Yasukuni Shrine should be used as a national facility to commemorate those killed in action.

The person in question is ex-Ground SDF Chief of Staff Hibako Yoshifumi. In the August issue of the Nippon Kaigi monthly magazine, Hibako welcomed the Kishida administration’s approval of three key national security policy documents.

The three documents allow Japan’s possession of enemy base attack capability and an exercise of Japan’s collective self-defense right in order to have the SDF participate in U.S. wars abroad. In the magazine article, Hibako points out that Japan needs to imagine a situation where SDF personnel may be killed in future wars and to prepare for this situation.

In this regard, the ex-GSDF chief said that it is urgently necessary to establish a system which gives authority to Yasukuni Shrine to play its past role as a national facility to commemorate the war dead with the aim of dealing with the issue of SDF members killed in war.

Yasukuni Shrine during the prewar and wartime period enshrined soldiers who died in battle as “war gods” and played a role as a symbol of militarism and spiritual tool to mobilize the people for Japan’s past war of aggression.

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The 2023 White Paper on Defense, which was published on July 28, shows that in FY 2022, the number of SDF applicants decreased by 9,735 from the previous year to 74,947.

As factors, Akahata pointed out that along with Japan’s falling birthrate, under the Kishida administration’s huge military buildup policy, Japan’s deployment of military forces abroad has become more probable.