Japan Press Weekly

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2011 August 3 - 16 [TOKYO]

Tokyo governor visits war-glorifying Yasukuni Shrine

Tokyo Metropolitan Governor Ishihara Shintaro on August 15, the day WWII ended, visited war-glorifying Yasukuni Shrine, again shedding light on his historical view that justifies Japan’s past war of aggression.

He has worshiped at the shrine on that day since the year 2000, except in 2009 when he was on an overseas trip to promote Tokyo’s bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games.

Ishihara said to the press, “You are making too much fuss over the Yasukuni issue, asking me if I visited there as a public servant or not. All Japanese should visit there.” In regard to Cabinet ministers not visiting the shrine, he said, “They are not true Japanese.”

The Japanese Communist Party Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly Members’ Group on August 10 demanded that Ishihara refrain from visiting Yasukuni Shrine, pointing out that the Tokyo governor’s yearly visit and offering of prayers to the shrine is interpreted as officially backing up the shrine’s political viewpoint which glorifies the war of aggression and as turning his back on the present day’s international peace order built on deep remorse over the past tragic history.