Japan Press Weekly

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2015 February 18 - 24 [POLITICS]

Abe claims it natural for national leader to visit Yasukuni Shrine

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has insisted that it is a matter of course for a national leader to visit the Yasukuni Shrine. He made this remark in response to Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo criticizing that to visit the war shrine is no different from justifying the past war of aggression.

The remark came out on February 17 at a plenary session of the House of Representatives when Shii questioned him about how to promote friendship between Japan and Asian neighbors on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII.

The JCP chair called for the creation of rules that prohibit Cabinet ministers from visiting the Yasukuni Shrine which glorifies Japan’s war of aggression. The prime minister justified his visit to the shrine and said he saw no problem with Cabinet members’ visits.

Shii moved on to Abe’s plan to issue a statement to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the war’s end. He criticized Abe for trying to skirt around the essentials of the 1995 Murayama Statement which expresses “deep remorse” and “heartfelt apology” for Japan’s colonial rule and war of aggression. Shii also demanded that the government work to have school history textbooks reflect remorse over Japan’s aggressive acts expressed in the Murayama Statement as well as in other official documents.

The prime minister just repeated that he will maintain the position on historical recognition held by successive governments “in its entirety”, including the Murayama Statement.

Regarding the military sex slavery issue, the so-called “comfort women” problem, Shii pressed the prime minister to take measures to restore dignity to the victims, including offering compensation and a formal apology. However, Abe insisted that the comfort women issue should not be connected with political or diplomatic matters.

Shii then took up the issue of hate speech demonstrations. He demanded that the government take a firm stance against such acts and enact the necessary legislation to disallow them. The prime minister in reply said that he will consider making laws in accordance with the demands of political parties and the general public.