Abe sends ritual offering to Yasukuni Shrine

Abe sparked widespread international outrage, including from key ally the United States.

China/Korea/US, only 3 among 200 countries are hardly widespread international outrage.

i was so excited to read this tagline, thinking it was a finger or something, but then realised it was probably just tax money from Suga's secret expense account.

tinawatanabe: "China/Korea/US, only 3 among 200 countries are hardly widespread international outrage."

Three you care about so much you make up conspiracies and obsessive over them constantly. Besides, Yasukuni and the war criminals it enshrines committed heinous atrocities against the former two you mention, and they have every right to be upset when leaders who deny the atrocities go and pray to the criminals -- in some cases family -- who helped carry them out. You deny many of said atrocities, too, and then deride the victims. So why would they not be upset? What's more, since you can't accept it, far more than the three countries you mention actually do get upset about leaders' visits to Yasukuni and the denials they espouse.

I don't agree with the fact that nasty war criminals are buried at Yasukuni, but why are Japanese politicians not allowed to visit a cemetery honoring their war dead in general? Don't politicians of other countries honor their war dead? I wonder how many of these cemeteries themselves contain war criminals?

I don't agree with the fact that nasty war criminals are buried at Yasukuni, but why are Japanese politicians not allowed to visit a cemetery honoring their war dead in general? Don't politicians of other countries honor their war dead? I wonder how many of these cemeteries themselves contain war criminals?

Firstly, nobody is buried at Yasukuni. In accordance with the Shinto religion, 'souls' are 'enshrined' there. To those who do not believe the religious hogwash, it basically means they are memorialised at the shrine.

Secondly the Yasukuni is not a cemetery, it is a shrine. The cemetery in Tokyo is called Chidorigafuchi, and nobody objects Japanese politicians visiting it to pay respects.

Yasukuni has many millions of 'souls' 'enshrined' there, but it also enshrines over a thousand war criminals, including 14 Class-A war criminals. Today the Yasukuni, together with the adjacent museum, has become a symbol of Japanese ultra-nationalism, and an alternative view of WWII, one where Japan did not wage war but fought heroically against western forces. You just need to look at the yearly gathering of nutjob neto-uyoku wearing WWII replica IJA uniforms waving Rising Sun flags chanting something about glory of the Japanese Empire.

oldman_13Today  09:07 pm JST

I don't agree with the fact that nasty war criminals are buried at Yasukuni, but why are Japanese politicians not allowed to visit a cemetery honoring their war dead in general?

See Article 20 of the Japanese Constitution.

Don't politicians of other countries honor their war dead? I wonder how many of these cemeteries themselves contain war criminals?

There are official events at which Japanese politicians can honour the war dead in their official capacity. They have no need to go to Yasukuni to do so.

It's more likely that there will be a lot of suspicions around the promises being made by N. Korea, as I believe they've done something similar in the past, and reneged upon it.

Perhaps he's simply playing the Game, doing what the Chinese have asked him to do, but likely to orchestrate some sort of stumbling block to use as a "I told you so" response back to the Chinese, and thereby justifying his continued quest to become a Nuclear Power.

It seems that this happens every year yet the Japanese still pay their respects and the Koreans keep expressing their anger. Isn't it about time that the Koreans, rather than complaining about it, should actually have something constructive to say, like how to address this problem rather than just moan about it? Are the Japanese paying their respects at the shrine purely to the war criminals, or is there a deeper, more personal reason behind it? Basically, instead of confronting each other about it, why don't they actually talk about it so we don't keep getting this same story wheeled out every spring and autumn?

Japan continues proud tradition of worshipping war criminals in a shrine that see Japanese emperor as a deity and Japanese people a special divine people. Great stuff by Abe.

@mistie710

like how to address this problem rather than just moan about it?

Japanese government knows the Korean solution to the Yasukuni problem.

Just remove the name plate of 13 A-class war criminals, Abe san can pay tribute to the rest. In fact, Yasukuni was kosher until those 13 A-class war criminals were enshrined secretly in the 1970s, then it became off-limit to Japan's emperor and prime ministers.

Yes, Japan's emperors can't visit Yasukuni anymore because of those 13 A-class war criminals.

Good to hear the PM of Japan honoring the heroic war dead of the nation, like any other head of government on Earth would do. It is his duty and would be treasonous not to honor them

Japan's adversaries frequently talk about Japan's past militarism which ended long back with the end of WW 2 in 1945 to pin it down . But today , Japan is the most peaceful country in the world .It has not developed any nuclear bomb or intercontinental ballistic missiles nor is threatening any country in its neighbourhood . But these adversaries never talk about their own militarism and the threats they issue every day. This exposes their biggest hypocrisy before the world .

mistie710Today  03:11 am JST

It seems that this happens every year yet the Japanese still pay their respects and the Koreans keep expressing their anger. Isn't it about time that the Koreans, rather than complaining about it, should actually have something constructive to say, like how to address this problem rather than just moan about it? Are the Japanese paying their respects at the shrine purely to the war criminals, or is there a deeper, more personal reason behind it?

It doesn't matter what ordinary Japanese citizens do. It's no problem at all for them to go to Yasukuni as often as they like. Unless the politicians have relatives enshrined there I can't imagine what personal reasons they might have for going, and none of them ever say they're going to pray to their grandads' or whoevers' souls. So they can only be going for political purposes, i.e. keeping their right-wing base happy, which I find just a bit crass and shameless.

dcog9065Today  10:56 am JST

Good to hear the PM of Japan honoring the heroic war dead of the nation, like any other head of government on Earth would do. It is his duty ...

On state occasions at locations designated by the state, yes. At Yasukuni it is unconstitutional, a fact that advocates of shrine visits seem unable to acknowledge.

and would be treasonous not to honor them

"Heroic war dead... treasonous..." That's the kind of overblown hyberbole the CCP and the North Koreans are so fond of.

Good to hear the PM of Japan honoring the heroic war dead of the nation, like any other head of government on Earth would do. It is his duty and would be treasonous not to honor them

@dog9065 - You're confusing the Chidorigafuchi, the national cemetery, with Yasukuni, a Shinto shrine. No head of a secular state is obliged to visit a religious place of worship.

And by your logic, Abe is neglecting his duty anyway as he hasn't actually set foot in Yasukuni for half a decade, choosing only to send a token gesture of an offering. So it seems like even Abe doesn't see the big deal?

HeckleberryToday  06:56 pm JST

No head of a secular state is obliged to visit a religious place of worship.

Well-put. But the pro-Yasukuni lot just can't or won't get it into their heads.

No head of a secular state is obliged to visit a religious place of worship.

Yes. It's a personal activity based on personal decision. There is absolutely no laws that require PM to pay visit to the shrine. Some PMs do and others do not, all based on their own personal beliefs. This is not an official duty.

Japan continues proud tradition of worshipping war criminals..

They don't "worship" war criminals or any war dead, at least not in the sense of worshiping God as in Christianity, Judaism or Islam. Kami is not a supreme being, not a moral standard, not a life guiding principle, or anything like that. Kami can be good or evil or anything in between. It is much closer to western visit to cemetery of their families than worshipping God. Visiting Yasukuni, therefore, does not necessarily mean to agree with what war-dead did in the wars.

socrateosToday  01:15 am JST

Japan continues proud tradition of worshipping war criminals..

They don't "worship" war criminals or any war dead, at least not in the sense of worshiping God as in Christianity, Judaism or Islam.

Those politicians certainly aren't worshipping anyone.

Kami is not a supreme being, not a moral standard, not a life guiding principle, or anything like that.

Lucky for the politicians. Heaven forbid they should have to worry about moral standards.

Visiting Yasukuni, therefore, does not necessarily mean to agree with what war-dead did in the wars.

Although the politicians probably do agree because it plays well with their right-wing nationalist base.