Japan Press Weekly

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2014 January 8 - 14 [POLITICS]

LDP will keep visiting Yasukuni Shrine

The Liberal Democratic Party in its draft 2014 action program resolves that they will keep visiting the controversial Yasukuni Shrine.

The new program will be adopted at the party congress scheduled for January 19.

The draft of the action program states, “By carrying on the tradition of visiting Yasukuni Shrine to pay our respects to those who gave their lives for the nation, we will convey our sincere appreciation to them.”

The wording, “pledge to never wage war”, was dropped from the final version of the draft after some LDP members in a meeting on January 7 argued that the Yasukuni Shrine is not a place for an anti-war resolution or a prayer for peace.

The draft clearly states that the party will seek to amend the Constitution to make it more “up-to-date and realistic”, expressing its intention to revise the war-renouncing Article 9.

In order to enhance public understanding of the LDP draft for a revised Constitution, which sees fundamental human rights as not being inviolable, and to give momentum to a constitutional revision, the party will organize meetings to be held throughout the country, according to the action program.

The LDP will strongly push for “proactive pacifism” based on Japan’s exercise of the right to collective self-defense and promote international cooperation and diplomacy, the proposed document stresses.