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Abe sends offering to Yasukuni shrine, but has no plans to visit

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Pathetic.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

sandiegoluvApr. 21, 2014 - 11:41PM JST

A church that has nothing to do with anything. Yasukuni shrine honours the war dead. there can not be any correlation between the two. Grow up. I think you must be drunk.

They are both religious establishment. Do you think Yasukuni Shrine not a religious establishment?

Sir_EdgarApr. 22, 2014 - 04:40AM JST

CH3CHO: Ad hominem attacks and threats are signs of personal weakness.

Sir, I just pointed out that there is legal punishment for using false title. I hope you take it as friendly advice.

Yasukuni Shrine's museum and web site have made statements blaming the United States for "forcing" Japan into World War II

If all you can bring here to support your claim is an un-sourced sentence from Wikipedia and your memory of something written years ago that does not exist any more, I think you are not good at debate.

But if a country freezes all the assets and interests of US Government, US corporations and US citizens in the country, and if the country refuses to unfreeze them unless the US makes a substantial concession to the country, what do you think? Do you think the US cannot but attack the country to get the assets and interests of Americans back?

sfjp330Apr. 22, 2014 - 05:13AM JST

You don't see U.S. running around and pretending Hiroshima and Nagasaki never happened do you? Japan has never come to grips with its actions and has deliberately refused to face them

We always see Koreans running around to say "Japan has never apologized."

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

I am sick and tired of Japan's "made in his capacity as a private person" rhetoric. This is the prime minister. Upon election the elected person should know that his or her actions will never truly be private. Would it be OK for Obama, upon setting foot in Japan, to say "Japan should pay for bombing Pearl Harbor but that's only my opinion"? No! Regardless of one's personal believes the leader of a nation should always understand the consequences of their actions and how it will effect surrounding nations.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Do you see German Chancellor visiting the Nazi grave

You didn't answer shiboritate's question. We're not talking specifically about "graves" are we?

2 ( +4 / -2 )

shiboritate Apr. 22, 2014 - 08:48AM JST Why is it OK for other countries to pay respects to their war dead but not Japan?

Do you see German Chancellor visiting the Nazi grave? Like every year, when you have over 168 J-goverment officials and PM Abe visiting and praying at Yasukuni that include 14 class A war criminals, it does not help to improve relationship with China and Korea. These elected officials are doing the same thing every year. Apologies don't mean anything when your elected officials that represents millions of Japanese people still go to Yasukuni to pray for Tojo and JIA. Japan cannot make small steps forward like what Germany did. If PM Abe has any guts, he should demand that no J-goverment representative will go to Yasukuni, or your fired.

It's all about Japan continuing playing the victim card and nothing else is allowed. To have a better understanding of atrocities that were committed by JIA to their neighboring countries, is there any large museum in Tokyo or other major cities that detail the massacure of Nanjing, Manila, Manchuria, and other parts of Southeast Asia that are paid by the Japan goverment? In a annual Hiroshima August 6th rememberance, did anybody including the PM mentioned about the sufferings that Japan caused to their neighbors? No wonder Chinese delegation never attends Hiroshima memorial.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Jerseyboy - I replied to your post which was a reply to stormr - "every country honours their war dead" - that would include the US. Please re-read. Why is it OK for other countries to pay respects to their war dead but not Japan?

Others - Abe did not visit the museum or lay a sakaki at the museum, did he? You cannot equate the two.

Sandiegoluv - yasukuni is a shinto shrine. It is analogous to a church in the US. Church worships one god, shrine worships one or more of the countless kami-sama. To deny that yasukuni is a shrine (and analogous to a church) is factually wrong.

Spaciousflow - Arlington does not have war criminals because US has been the victor and no other nation has the power to put the US on trial. If US lost its war of aggression in Iraq there would be war criminals - abu gharib comes to mind. George Bush is guilty of terrible crimes against innocent civilians in Iraq.

Open minded - in dec 2013 Abe made a point of praying at a second shrine there which deifies ALL war dead, including the victims of other countries, and prayed for peace. Please read his words here.

http://japan.kantei.go.jp/96_abe/statement/201312/1202986_7801.html

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

(facepalms) All this fuss over a frigging tree in a frigging shrine that's only really controversial because China and South Korea make it so. Don't we have bigger things to worry about? Global warming, a dreadful economy and Russia escalating tensions to the highest level since the Cold War?

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

StormR Apr. 21, 2014 - 11:14AM JST 14 war criminals are not the only war dead there, every country honours their war dead, get over it deal with the fact that there are some criminals buried in the same place.

What this shows is just how little Japan has changed over the last 70 years. You don't see U.S. running around and pretending Hiroshima and Nagasaki never happened do you? Japan has never come to grips with its actions and has deliberately refused to face them. Germany, at least, went through such self examination after WWII, and indeed, repentance, that its Nazi past, though not erased, no longer strongly stains the nation of today. Indeed, Germans today have understood their special, historical obligation to face their past honestly. Japan is responsible for at least as many deaths as the Nazis. It's many years of atrocities: concentration camps, its bio-war experiments on Chinese civilians, its deliberate programs of starvation and murder of prisoners, the rapacious killings of conquered cities and their peoples. This and more all swept under the Japan's nationalist rug without even the barest pretense of acknowledgement that they ever occurred.

The basic Japanese attitude towards the war seems to be, “Ok, we are super-peace-loving and were reluctantly forced into war, but only because the U.S. bullied us, and we had really good intentions for the rest of Asia. A few bad things happened, but that’s what happens in war, and did you know that Japan suffered a lot, too and even got nuked, and Japan's attitude is that "we are victims too". We’re sorry we fought the war, but anyway most of those atrocities probably didn’t happen or were exaggerated anyway so were not really all that sorry.” Following the lead from their political masters, Japan's education bureaucrats began to censor history books for schoolchildren to prevent them learning the truth about Japan's military aggression between 1931 to 1945, and the many horrifying atrocities that were committed by Japanese during the course of that military aggression.

If Japanese school children are told anything at all about the Pacific War, it is usually in a false context where the U.S,, Britain and the Netherlands are dishonestly accused of "forcing" Japan to wage a defensive war to obtain supplies of oil and rubber. The schoolchildren are not told in official history textbooks that oil and rubber were withheld from Japan in an effort to persuade Japan to halt its brutal and unprovoked war against China. The children are not permitted to learn in their history books about the slaughter of millions of prisoners of war and captive civilians by the Japanese military. In addition to the hundreds of thousands of captive foreign women who were forced to become sexual slaves in Japanese Army brothels across East Asia and the Pacific region. At times the falsifications and distortions of history in Japanese school textbooks have become sufficiently outrageous to produce a storm of international protest. In 1982, on the 50th anniversary of Japan's forcible seizure and annexation of China's Manchurian region, the Ministry of Education ordered amendments to school history books in reference to Class-A war criminals interred at the shrine

4 ( +5 / -1 )

CH3CHO: Ad hominem attacks and threats are signs of personal weakness.

Read and be educated: "Yasukuni Shrine's museum and web site have made statements blaming the United States for "forcing" Japan into World War II and claiming that Japan went to war to create a "co-prosperity sphere" for all Asians. Critics say this is the same propaganda used by the wartime imperial Japanese regime."

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasukuni_Shrine

I have also seen the official web site a few years ago made these same claims. I'm not sure if it does today, but their museum still does.

A simple Google search will reveal and enlighten anyone. ANYONE.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Equate Arlington with Yasukuni?

Arlington does not honor over a thousand men found guilty of war crimes in a court.

Arlington does not have a museum that claims that the Native Americans had to be slaughtered to save them.

You cannot even equate Yasukuni with Bitberg cemetery. No one at Bitberg was convicted of a war crime. They all actually died in the line of duty. If Herman Goering's remains were moved to Bitberg and German politicians visited or sent gifts, there would be deafening international outrage. The only difference with Yasukuni is that its the Koreans and Chinese leading the charge, but with Bitberg and Goering, it would be the British, French, and the Americans leading the charge. Quite simply, posters on this website have automatic respect for Britain and America, but not for China and Korea, or this thread would be near universal against Yasukuni.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Just curious, but is Prime Minister Abe required by law to publicly announce this donation and are politicians required to publicly announce their visits to Yasukuni shrine? Seems to me that making a public spectacle of donations and visits only serves to alert China, et al, of the donationsvisits and invite scorn. Why not donatevisit on personalprivate time without all the pressTV hoopla?

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Right now Japanese foreign policy has to be to work with the neighbors to keep China from becoming a threat to the region. That should include avoiding things that will get Korea upset, even if we all agreed that Korea had the problem. There are more important issues than visiting shrines or making statements about WWII. Abe seems to be on the right track here. Hopefully the right wingers will take the lesson and not cause a fuss.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

StormRApr. 21, 2014 - 11:14AM JST 14 war criminals are not the only war dead there, every country honours their war dead, get over it deal with the fact that there are some criminals buried in the same place. US honours war dead at Arlington cemetery, veterans day etc , NZ & Australia have ANZAC Day ( 25th April by the way ) and honour their war dead at places like the cenotaph and Auckland war memorial museum, If you cannot deal with realities of life then turn off the TV news and stop reading news papers, people do all sorts of things I don't like or agree with but I don't bang on about it for 70 friggin years. Korea should be more concerned about the boat that just sank, than banging on about this non event

It's good to know there are more and more people who see the situation rather fairly.

One thing I want to note is, the war dead has been enshrined there, not buried.

Japanese people are beginning to think that Chinese and Korean attitude would never change whatever we do. Enough is enough.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

A dirty nation OPENLY saying that it is not dirty is even more of a joke.

it is pretty sad that 99% of the population is hijacked by 1% of right wingers

0 ( +2 / -2 )

StormR. Countries who have never been involved in war don't need to "honor" their war dead people. And countries that have declared war should pay respect to the mess they have created, not their own dead ones.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

@CH3CHO WHAT??

For most of Japanese, PM's Yasukini visit is about freedom of religion vs. oppressive communism. That is so untrue and no Japanese will admit to that. And nor should they. You are making up excuses for them. The PM has not one iota of an idea of doing what you are talking about. He is just trying to drum up support. I have no idea where you are getting your nonsense. But you are wasting my time.

I ask the same question. If China makes a huge protest whenever US president visits a church. Does he stop visiting? If not, what would be his reason for continuing the visit?

That is unreliable that you could ask that. A church that has nothing to do with anything. Yasukuni shrine honours the war dead. there can not be any correlation between the two. Grow up. I think you must be drunk.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

. Look at Iraq and Afghanistan more recently, for you to sit there and carry on as if Japan is the only dirty nation is a joke.

Well Japan also deployed some troops over there showing its support to America.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

this is good to the priests of yasukuni shrine, they need offerings from such leaders so as to keep on making the majority of the world population confused on japan's position on its very history that no one just don't want to praise or glorify.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

A typical Japanese half-measure that winds up pleasing no-one.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

sandiegoluvApr. 21, 2014 - 08:39PM JST

@CH3CHO. Are you kidding me?? Do you actually believe that?

I know you would refuse to understand, but I am serious about it. For most of Japanese, PM's Yasukini visit is about freedom of religion vs. oppressive communism. It is not about war loving Japanese vs. peace loving Chinese.

I ask the same question. If China makes a huge protest whenever US president visits a church. Does he stop visiting? If not, what would be his reason for continuing the visit?

-5 ( +6 / -11 )

Jerseyboy - so I guess you assume that the US only fought "noble" wars in self-defense? That's pretty amusing. War is war - if Arlington is ok Yasukuni is ok. The enshrined at the main shrine at Yasukuni died as far back as a civil war in 1868, and a separate shrine deifies all war dead including the victims. Abe visited BOTH shrines in Dec 2013 and pledged not to go to war again. That was honorable and I hope he continues this practice.

shiboritate -- where in my post did I mention the U.S.? Quit trying to do the usual defense of pointing fingers at other countries to excuse Japan's lack of maral character. Especially with idiotic statements like "war is war" to gloss over decades of Japanese atrocities and aggression.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

He is visiting there to show that freedom of religion is protected in Japan, though I know you will refuse to understand this. Think of it, if China makes a huge protest whenever US president visits a church. Does he stop visiting? If not, what would be his reason for continuing the visit?

@CH3CHO. Are you kidding me?? Do you actually believe that? This is the first day I am hearing of this. Please stop! This is ridiculous. You are just giving him a reason that he has not even thought of. OMG!!! He is visiting it so that he can shore up support from the right wingers. That is all there is to it. It does not good to Japan at all. This is for personal political gain and you seem to be making up a reason to legitimise it. Stop it already with putting words into his mouth. Oh, my head hurts when I think about what you said. Sorry.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Sir_EdgarApr. 21, 2014 - 07:09PM JST

Very few news articles also mention the fact that the Yasukuni Shrine's museum portrays Japan as the sole "victim" of World War II

You can see the exhibits of the museum here. http://www.yasukuni.jp/~yusyukan/floor/index.html

Their theme is to show how bravely the soldiers fought. I do not think it portrays the soldiers as "victims".

I do not like Yasukini, but the criticism should be fair and based on facts.

By the way, do you really have the title of Sir? It is a misdemeanor in Japan to use a false title.

-4 ( +5 / -9 )

I applaud Japantoday for mentioning the propaganda at the war museum. Very few news articles also mention the fact that the Yasukuni Shrine's museum portrays Japan as the sole "victim" of World War II (without mentioning the suffering of other people) and that the country was "forced" into the war by U.S. "aggression". The philosophy of the shrine is strictly neo-conservative and stuck in 19th century imperialism. It blames everyone for the war, but not Japan itself. Very irresponsible. I don't think politicans or children (maybe they are the same) should be encouraged or even allowed to go there.

So NO, Yasukuni Shrine is NOT like Arlington Cemetary. It was and remains today a propaganda tool of imperialists and was established for the imperialist agenda. Many people have protested their relatives being "honored" at this shrine. But the shrine refuses to "release" their names from the lists.

Also, please know that besides the 14 Class A convicted war criminals there are also OVER 1,000 other convicted war criminals there.

-2 ( +5 / -7 )

China is anti religions? But this articles says

"China Will Become the Most Christian Nation in the World in 15 Years" PJ Media‎ - 9 hours ago

https://www.google.com.au/url?q=http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2014/04/20/china-will-become-the-most-christian-nation-in-the-world-in-15-years/&sa=U&ei=K-VUU4jSC82-kQXKmoHgDQ&ved=0CC8QqQIoADAFODI&usg=AFQjCNH-7L7SMSvhft-PxCEcuxkaq93fwQ

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

sandiegoluvApr. 21, 2014 - 01:02PM JST

I just don't understand what there is to gain by visiting there or even sending an offering.

He is visiting there to show that freedom of religion is protected in Japan, though I know you will refuse to understand this. Think of it, if China makes a huge protest whenever US president visits a church. Does he stop visiting? If not, what would be his reason for continuing the visit?

-5 ( +4 / -9 )

Every visit every donation while he is in office puts evert Japanese citizen in danger if the are traveling to China or Korea. I feel that Abe should pay for his actuons and we the people of Japan sue him for his stupidity.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

The shinto shrine actually worships war criminals as "gods" !!!

Who paid for the "offering" to the war criminal "gods" ?? Did the Japanese government spend its citizens' tax dollars so Abe could worship war criminals as his "gods" ??

0 ( +4 / -5 )

In all intense and purposes Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, might as well have just visited, a couple of cabinets minsters have dutifully paid private visits, and the point being made bluntly, so there will be no wiggle room afforded to President Barack Obama.

Has it ever occurred to anyone that President Park Geun-Hye, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and President Xi Jinping could be 'cut from the same clothe', all are beginning to look like they deserve each other, frightening bit is the populations at large have little choice other than to hang on for dear life.

-2 ( +0 / -3 )

Inverted? Doubt it. I do agree with you on almost every point. I never said Chinese can vote for him. I do agree and have often expressed in the past that the only reason for the visit was to to appeal to voters, especially the right wing. It only serves him, not the country at all. Such visits, I have often also said play into the hands of Chinese officials in order to divert attention from their own problems. But his visits and offering are not done because he is defending freedom or religion from those who are trying to suppress it at all. That is just not correct.

It is done for his own personal political gain. Just as the Chinese government protests his visit there so aggressively are done for their own political gain.

It does effect business though in a negative way as well. It also harms relations between the countries. I can see no point in these visits or offerings other than for personal gain.

2 ( +6 / -4 )

The museum at Yasukuni should be regarded as an affront to the integrity of Japan. The enshrinement of those whose behaviour disgraced Japan should be regarded as an affront to the integrity of Japan. Japan needs a new war memorial to respect those who gave their lives ( many of whom were sent to their deaths by foul warmongers ).This place is toxic.

9 ( +12 / -3 )

Sandiegoluv - your understanding is inverted. Abe visits (from a political standpoint) to appeal to domestic constituents, not to anger Chinese. Chinese can't vote for him so their view does not come into the equation. For Chinese politicians Yasukuni is a double whammy: (A) they get their citizens to focus on problems abroad rather than protesting at home and (B) they propagate their anti-religion agenda. In China if you practice religion you can end up tortured, in jail, and maybe evem dead. Every time Abe ignores the Chinese and prays at Yasukuni he is defending freedom of religion from people who want to suppress it.

-5 ( +4 / -9 )

@Schopenhaur -Let's be respectful and not say "Ignorant Americans". I am American and I agree with you that this issue is being used by the Chinese and the South Koreans to further their own personal political ambitions. American and western countries are not ignorant. They just are not interested in this issue for the most part.

Furthermore, visiting the shrine serves no purpose at all for present day Japanese. It just hurts your image even more and since the Chinese and Koreans government have been so good at making it an issue that the people believe them, it would better serve present day Japan and future generations to not have its politicians visit it at all until governments are replaced and people on both sides of this issue are better educated to understand what it means.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

It is a totally wrong idea connecting visiting Yasukuni and revival of Japan's militarism. Nobody if they are living in Japan or seeing Japan rightly would think so. China and Korea are using this subject for their advantages to attack Japan. Unfortunately ignorant Americans and other western countries are being duped by China and Kprea.

After the war, Japan is totally immersed in American culture and if further we forget to pay respect to our ancestors who died in the past wars, what would be the Japanese?

-4 ( +5 / -10 )

It never ends. This constant need to just anger the Chinese and the South Koreans for his own political gain. If he really cared about this country he would knock it off. It does not help Japan at all. I just don't understand what there is to gain by visiting there or even sending an offering. It serves Japan no purpose at all to do this.

2 ( +6 / -4 )

Abe went to this shrine in December 2013. Obviously the "smoking space" needs to be upgraded before his next visit. Most likely this is what his "offering" was all about and I don't blame him one bit for not going.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mooniesworld/7180061084/

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Abe can save 2 billion dollars annual payment to USA right now.

Save? Hardly. Let's assume for the moment that the US pulled out, just how many TRILLIONS of $$$$ would Japan then have to spend for defense?

Japan is getting a deal and saving a ton of cash by hosting the US bases here. Something conveniently forgotten.

5 ( +9 / -5 )

Way to go Abe! You just can't help yourself, can you? You are an antagonistic old fool and Japan and the rest of Asia is sick of your petty little mind games! Grow up or give up! Please!

5 ( +15 / -9 )

Jerseyboy - so I guess you assume that the US only fought "noble" wars in self-defense? That's pretty amusing. War is war - if Arlington is ok Yasukuni is ok. The enshrined at the main shrine at Yasukuni died as far back as a civil war in 1868, and a separate shrine deifies all war dead including the victims. Abe visited BOTH shrines in Dec 2013 and pledged not to go to war again. That was honorable and I hope he continues this practice.

-4 ( +7 / -11 )

The opinion of the late Emperor Hirohito is fascinating http://fw.to/0wjthlS

3 ( +4 / -1 )

14 war criminals are not the only war dead there, every country honours their war dead, get over it deal with the fact that there are some criminals buried in the same place.

StormR -- fair enough. So long as you "deal with the fact" that many, if not most of those Japan is honoring, died fighting wars of aggression, rather than some noble defense of their own country. And that the museum attached to the shrine goes out of its way to glorify these colonizations. IMO, that makes a HUGE moral difference.

10 ( +17 / -7 )

igloobuyerApr. 21, 2014 - 11:03AM JST What is this obsession with Yasakuni shrine among Japanese leaders - something is going on in the background that >the public is not being told about.

It's a shrine that honors some 2.4m people who died in wars going back to the 1800s. It's just one out of countless shrines in the country. That there are 14 class-A war criminals enshrined there along with the 2,465,986 others somehow makes this a big deal. Nobody whether general public or politician goes there to pray for or honor the war criminals or Japan's fascist imperialist history. But that's what China and perversely, South Korea, would like the world to believe. The real question is what is this obsession that the media has with Yasukuni? It's reached a point that if any government employee in Japan even thinks about Yasukuni the media has to report on it repeating the same old story about China and South Korea getting, or going to get, upset.

-9 ( +7 / -15 )

@StormR,

I actually agree with you. I don't see this as much different than any other nation honoring their dead. The problem is that it is an international issue, because South Korea and China continue to make it one.

At the end of the day, its just better for Japan to remove the worst criminals and call it a day.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

14 war criminals are not the only war dead there, every country honours their war dead, get over it deal with the fact that there are some criminals buried in the same place.

US honours war dead at Arlington cemetery, veterans day etc , NZ & Australia have ANZAC Day ( 25th April by the way ) and honour their war dead at places like the cenotaph and Auckland war memorial museum,

If you cannot deal with realities of life then turn off the TV news and stop reading news papers, people do all sorts of things I don't like or agree with but I don't bang on about it for 70 friggin years.

Korea should be more concerned about the boat that just sank, than banging on about this non event.

-5 ( +9 / -15 )

Better than visiting. Yeah, there are war criminals there, but also 2.5million Japanese who gave their life for their country, too. Its somewhat understandable that officials would want to pay their respects...

Just wish the war-criminals/museum would be removed so that this wouldn't be so controversial...South Korea and China will probably be annoyed anyways, but the rest of the world will be completely understanding, at least.

2 ( +7 / -6 )

@toshiko

Then get rid of USA occupation force first.

A common opinion I'm sure, but remember, the Americans aren't here to protect Japan from it's "enemies", they are here to protect Japan from itself. As long as ignorant clowns like Abe are in charge, sadly nothing will improve. Abe is being stubborn because of his family history, not for the sake of the Japanese people.

9 ( +17 / -9 )

Seems there are more visits than usual to that shrine recently. Are there any war preparation going on or is there any reason for that ?

-1 ( +6 / -7 )

To be continued and to be continued forever.

Is Abe showing independent from USA order? Then get rid of USA occupation force first. 70 years of Foreign Force occupation is enough. Abe can save 2 billion dollars annual payment to USA right now.

0 ( +7 / -8 )

Just can't understand the need to upset other countries, a mature politician would not go out of his way to do this.

10 ( +16 / -6 )

What is this obsession with Yasakuni shrine among Japanese leaders - something is going on in the background that the public is not being told about.

5 ( +13 / -8 )

It just never ends.

6 ( +13 / -7 )

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