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Lawmakers visit Yasukuni shrine en masse

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Move the nazis to another place, I will visit and give a donation.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Good timing guys. Really, smooth move.

22 ( +24 / -2 )

Nobody cares. But AFP just doesn't get it. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/11941416/Is-World-War-Three-between-China-and-the-West-inevitable.html

-6 ( +0 / -6 )

Stupid move. Let's see the 3 way summit now. Remember I said this would happen.

9 ( +15 / -6 )

Yes it a real kick in the gut for China and K-pop fans. Who cares. It part of Japanese culture. To honour the fall-in. That right China also does and S K also and Australia even has a national holiday to horour there Fall-in. LOve this " You can not do that only us victor can. Every time I am Tokyo or Canberra I visit these shrines to honour the warrior. THe people who gave their life to protect their country and fellow Country men . What could be more honourable then that.

-24 ( +5 / -29 )

Who cares? All the victims of Japanese aggression who can't stand that Japan always portrays themselves as victims.

Who doesn't care? The Japanese. School kids visit the museum en masse to learn their history. Japan is a fine country, but it's also one of the most ignorant.

23 ( +26 / -3 )

They're instigators. Nothing more. I know the weather has been beautiful lately, but yeah nice timing.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

As mentioned before

Between July and September Chinese planes prompted 117 scrambles of Japanese SDF planes. Xi defends China's development in S.China Sea saying "Chinese people will not allow anyone to infringe on China's sovereignty and related rights and interests in the area" (Source NHK)

Hypocritical China will use this (again and again) as a way of trying to take the focus off themselves with this broken record shrine business. If it wasn't this it would be something else.

-13 ( +4 / -17 )

I guess Abe can clear his agenda next month for playing golf.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

Japan’s direct compensation payments both to war victims and their heirs have totaled only $1 billion. This contrasts remarkably with Germany’s record. The compensation figures from a decade ago, Germany’s payments to victims and their heirs had exceeded $70 billion. The contrast is all the more remarkable for the fact that Imperial Japan’s victims outnumbered those of the Nazis by at least three to one. The truth is that most of Japan’s victims, including millions in China, have not received a penny. And in the small minority of cases in which compensation has been paid, the sums have been laughable.

In a wording and verbal openings on diplomatic meets, Japanese officials delivered apologies, but there were never formal documentation of apology with promises to fix their mistakes by taking such actions and such. The Japanese apologies were always vague and lacked details, other than saying sorry and we'll never do it. In meantime in Japan, over 100 Japanese politicians worship their old war criminals as gods and glorify the old days by adding easily accepted forms such as textbooks, popular magazine and newspaper articles and suggesting Japanese legitimacy on their position in WWII. Then someday, we'll come across generation of Japanese population that really believes that their course of action in WWII was the right thing and wanting retribution. With Abe's administration Japan things really started to look that way.

The young Japanese students are clueless of Japan's relations with the outside world. They are taught too late. Young Japanese people often fail to understand why neighboring countries harbor a grudge over events that happened in 1931-45. The reason, in many cases, is that by the time they reach high school, they barely learned any 20th century history. Many young Japanese got a full picture when they left Japan and went to school in foreign countries. It's hardly surprising that some classes, in some schools, never get there, and are told by teachers to finish the book in their spare time. Many young people in Japan really don't understand the Japan's war history and making the point that many of today's geopolitical tensions stem from what happened then. In Japanese textbook, only a footnote on the Nanjing massacre. Why they couldn't go straight to that period if it was so important, instead of wasting time on the other subject. When students did finally get there, it turned out only few pages dealt with events between 1931-45. Reading many factual books on the incident at least allowed them to understand why many people in China still feel bitter about Japan's military past.

20 ( +24 / -4 )

Japan can NEVER again pout, cry, and shake their fists asking, "Why don't China and South Korea forget about history and move on?" or, "Japan has apologized!", etc., because clearly the apologies mean nothing, and the government insincere in statements about moving beyond history. Same as with the annual pity parties held in August. Japan wants two one-way streets; one to move only forward and forget history when they were the aggressors in factual atrocities, and one to move backwards and remember when they were the victims (or the way they see themselves, anyway).

Shame on Japan.

16 ( +23 / -7 )

It is their right to honour heir history and their ancestors just like it is the right of any other country or culture. Period. End of story. time to move on and tell the Chinese and the other critics to focus on their own problems and stop trying to make scapegoats out of ghosts of the past to use in present politics.

-24 ( +5 / -29 )

Have anyone ever been to the War Warriors shrine. It certainly does not glorify the WW2 but give a detail factorial history of the WW2. Just look at the emotional state of the visitor when they exit. My Japanese Partner was very upset for days after I took her. So I do think that all Japanese should visit the shrine that lease once in the life. It a solemn remember about what the real outcome of war is.

-21 ( +6 / -27 )

, because clearly the apologies mean nothing, and the government insincere in statements about moving beyond history

They mean nothing to those who have no intention of ever accepting ANY apology.

Japan has been nothing but peaceful since the war. China is hell bent on causing friction any way it can - (air incursions for example) Japan has not done this - it is convenient for Japan haters to ignore the real troublemaker of Asia

-25 ( +4 / -29 )

The Japanese apologies were always vague and lacked details, other than saying sorry and we'll never do it. In meantime in Japan, over 100 Japanese politicians worship their old war criminals as gods and glorify the old days by adding easily accepted forms such as textbooks, popular magazine and newspaper articles and suggesting Japanese legitimacy on their position in WWII.

And so the endless cycle continues. @sfjp330, good post.

11 ( +13 / -2 )

crisgersan,

so you have no problem with Germans worshiping hitler then???

This is a HUGE problem for Japan its HAS & continues to mortgage its future because it cant squarely face its history & for WHAT, its a colossal waste.

Japan is going beyond digging itself into a hole, its fast becoming a grave!

12 ( +15 / -3 )

As I said in the other thread about this.. personally don't really care so much in a practical sense, don't think places have special magical meaning.. however politically these dinosaurs are looking to ensure Japan's isolation and continued slide into international insignificance.

So disappointing.

12 ( +14 / -2 )

In meantime in Japan, over 100 Japanese politicians worship their old war criminals as gods

More mind readers. As usual the haters conveniently forget about the other 1.4 million that were not deemed criminals. Perhaps it is those they were paying respects to

-24 ( +3 / -27 )

Doesn't matter.

If its really in a private capacity, a real genuine "respectful" visit, go alone sometime quietly without a big song and dance.

But of course thats most likely not what its about at all.

11 ( +13 / -2 )

Shame on them for practicing their religion!

-19 ( +2 / -21 )

It certainly does not glorify the WW2 but give a detail factorial history of the WW2. the issue isnt the normal sholdier enshirine there its the class A war criminals, and the secretive spiteful natural in which they were enshined there

In January 1969, the Health and Welfare Ministry’s War Victims’ Relief Bureau and Yasukuni Shrine agreed on a plan to enshrine the Class A war criminals but to “avoid making it public.” But a year later the rites had yet to be carried out, and the more zealous advocates of enshrinement were growing impatient. These proponents of enshrinement were driven in large part by ideology, arguing that the Tokyo Trials had no legitimacy, and excluding Class A war criminals from Yasukuni Shrine was a tacit acceptance of the tribunal’s judgment. In 1970, the powerful lay council of Yasukuni Shrine passed a resolution calling for the enshrinement of Class A war criminals. However, the resolution left the timing to the head priest. And Tsukuba was determined to put off enshrinement of Class A war criminals as long as possible. A Head Priest’s Ideological Agenda Matsudaira Nagayoshi (1915–2005) was installed as head priest of Ya in July that year. It is worth going over Matsudaira Nagayoshi’s background. His grandfather, Matsudaira Yoshinaga (1828–90), was the feudal lord of the Fukui domain. In the last days of the Tokugawa shogunate, Yoshinaga called for a merger of the shogunate and the imperial court. After the shogunate fell, he was granted a position inside the new Meiji government. Matsudaira’s father, Yoshitami (1882–1948), was the last minister of the Imperial Household. Matsudaira himself was a lieutenant commander in the Imperial Navy during World War II and an officer in the Self-Defense Forces after World War II. His father-in-law, Daigo Tadashige, was a vice admiral in the Imperial Navy. He was tried by the Dutch after the war, convicted of Class B and C war crimes, and executed by rifle shot. He is listed among the war dead honored at Yasukuni Shrine.(6) Matsudaira unequivocally rejected the verdict of the tribunal and argued that the Tokyo Trials had produced a distorted view of history that cast Japan as the sole villain. He was determined from the outset to enshrine Japan’s Class A war criminals at Yasukuni. This was part of an ideological crusade to discredit the Tokyo Trials. Once appointed, he moved quickly. In a secret ceremony on October 17, 1978—just three months after becoming head priest—he enshrined all 14, including Matsuoka and Nagano.(7) When the story broke in April the following year, the public reaction was relatively muted. But controversy erupted with a vengeance six years later, when Prime Minister Nakasone Yasuhiro became the first postwar prime minister to pay homage at the shrine in an official capacity. When Nakasone and his cabinet visited Yasukuni on August 15, 1985 to mark the fortieth anniversary of the end of World War II, the visit unleashed a storm of criticism from Japan’s Asian neighbors. The next year Nakasone agreed not to visit the shrine in deference to the views of Chinese leader Hu Yaobang. From that time on, visits by cabinet officials to Yasukuni Shrine have been a hot-button issue, drawing intense criticism from abroad and stymying diplomatic progress between Japan and its neighbors. The ultimate source of this ongoing conflict was the enshrinement of Class A war criminals in 1978. And the enshrinement of this group cannot be attributed simply to religious or filial impulses. In fact, it was a blatantly ideological and political act driven by an urge to justify and legitimize a highly controversial chapter in Japanese history.

11 ( +13 / -2 )

An interesting contrasting picture on the main page was that of Prince Akishino and his wife visiting Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery to honor the war dead. These people make a deliberate choice to go to Yasukuni and know full well what it represents. Well done Sir!

20 ( +21 / -1 )

Well if its religion then it shouldn't be part as a government group outing in a secular country should it....

There are other shrines... again, they themselves probably informed the media that their group was going alone, because it is a political statement more than anything else in all likelihood.

11 ( +12 / -1 )

An interesting contrasting picture on the main page was that of Prince Akishino and his wife visiting Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery to honor the war dead.

Ironic. It's just total nonsense how so many japanese "war dead" sacrificed themselves for their emperor. Even though the emperor encouraged japan to surrender (without actually using this term) during famous speech in the closing days of the war, the imperial family still has blood on their hands.

2 ( +6 / -4 )

Lawmakers visit Yasukuni shrine en masse

"My mumma says stupid is as stupid does". Forrest Gump

14 ( +17 / -3 )

An attached museum portrays Japan more as a victim of U.S. aggression in WWII and makes scant reference to the extreme brutality of invading Imperial troops when they stormed through Asia.

Hence the problem. The combination of the museum and the enshrinment of the war criminals makes visiting Yasukuni a political statement -- plain and simple. It is an "in your face" to anyone, or any country, that Japan victimized.

14 ( +16 / -2 )

freedom

-17 ( +2 / -19 )

It certainly does not glorify the WW2 but give a detail factorial history of the WW2.

Comedy gold, right here. Did you mean the adjacent war museum, that paints Japan as a victim of WW2 ?

My Japanese partner was very upset for days after I took her

Yes, because of the slant on the propaganda there, which paints Japan as the 'nice guys' in Asia, being dragged reluctantly into war.

Nice try.

20 ( +24 / -4 )

Beyond silliness. Talk about deliberating rubbing salt into old wounds. They know it is a sensitive issue with their neighbors and come on, they don;t go to Yasakuni for some heart-felt remembrance - it's just a 'up yours' China and SK. MacArthur was right about Japan.

16 ( +19 / -3 )

There is a common belief that many of the so called "war criminals" housed at Yasukuni were put there to replace the ACTUAL war criminals who were in positions of affulence and power who went back to being affulent and powerful.

Some people believe this was done so that the U.S. and even certain factions in Japan could control the elite and powerful on a thether because they had been pardoned. There are many historical accounts that heavily suggest this.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

There's another article about the emperor and empress making a commemorative trip to Palau. That's how you really acknowledge the mistakes of war. By visiting sites and events on your victims' side once in a while. If the politicians who visit and send gifts to Yasukuni also did this, it wouldn't be so bad. The fact that they visit it exclusively tells you all you need to know though.

For them, remembering the war is endless talk about the sacrifice and bravery of kamikaze pilots and Japanese soldiers, the horrors of the atomic bombs & Tokyo air raids, and the hardships of postwar Japan. When it comes to their victims though, it's "apologies have been made, and we won't retract them, but move on already."

13 ( +14 / -1 )

An attached museum portrays Japan more as a victim of U.S. aggression in WWII and makes scant reference to the extreme brutality of invading Imperial troops when they stormed through Asia

Not only does it "make scant reference", it outright lies; the lone paragraph in the whole museum on the Nanking "Incident" claims that General Matsui gave his men maps of the safety zones along with instructions to follow strict military discipline, and that any unlawful acts by the men were punished. It fails to say that the men proceeded to commit an enormous number of unlawful acts which went unpunished and left a 6-figure number of people dead. And that train engine in the lobby from the Death Railway being lovingly displayed with no acknowledgement of what happened there is an utter disgrace.

@john-San

Have anyone ever been to the War Warriors shrine. It certainly does not glorify the WW2 but give a detail factorial history of the WW2

A factorial history which is missing any facts about the many Japanese atrocities

@moon

China is hell bent on causing friction any way it can - (air incursions for example) Japan has not done this - it is convenient for Japan haters to ignore the real troublemaker of Asia

China's present behaviour is in no way relevant to the issue of Japanese politicians & Yasukuni. It's not a case of either/or - criticising one does not mean supporting the other. I am highly critical of the CCP, and yet I also think the Yushukan is a disgrace as was the enshrinement of war criminals. Criticising Yasukuni does not make me a 'Japan hater' and does not mean that I ignore Chinese troublemaking. You are making assumptions and leaps of logic which are flawed

13 ( +15 / -2 )

I think the posters who are criticizing Japan in this thread are either Chinese or Koreans or uneducated westerners.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

@crustpunker

You're right. It's probably one of the many mistakes the US made to prevent the so called threat of communism from spreading throughout the postwar world.

It's also worth noting that one of the paroled class A war criminals you mentioned went on to become chairman of Izokukai, the organization believed to have the heaviest influence on the politics of Yasukuni and with deep ties to the LDP.

@tinawatanabe

So in other words everyone but Japan? When everyone in the room disagrees with you, there's a good chance you're the one that's wrong.

11 ( +12 / -1 )

@John San, I strongly agree with your post. when I visited the shrine last month, I left the place with a heavy heart. That was due to the last letters written by the soldiers. Indeed, I haven't seen anything that glorifies war in there. As I entered the shrine, I felt a sense of peace and formidability . Just because Tojo San and his group was there which both China and Korea considered as war criminals, the bashing never ends. That's their view and no need to impose to other people what they believe. In this part of the world, they are heroes. Hats off to them who have long died yet still being bashed.

-17 ( +0 / -17 )

Politicians who visit insist they are doing what their counterparts in most other countries do when honoring fallen soldiers, and compare the shrine to Arlington National Cemetery in the U.S

False comparison. War criminals are banned from being buried in Arlington.

12 ( +15 / -3 )

False comparison. War criminals are banned from being buried in Arlington.

Also false for the reason that Yasukuni is privately owned, Arlington is not. US politicians have every reason to visit Arlington in an official capacity, Japanese politicians should only go to Yasukuni for strictly private, personal reasons. This is a distinction the Yasukuni apologists are either willfully oblivious to or just too stupid to fully comprehend.

9 ( +13 / -4 )

China's present behaviour is in no way relevant to the issue of Japanese politicians & Yasukuni. It's not a case of either/or - criticising one does not mean supporting the other. I am highly critical of the CCP, and yet I also think the Yushukan is a disgrace as was the enshrinement of war criminals. Criticising Yasukuni does not make me a 'Japan hater' and does not mean that I ignore Chinese troublemaking. You are making assumptions and leaps of logic which are flawed

Never said it was a case of either or. Clearly my point is lost on you.

-20 ( +1 / -21 )

How can Abe tell China to forget the past and move on when this happens.

12 ( +15 / -3 )

Perhaps it is those they were paying respects to as the Shinto religious leaders state its impossible to seperate the criminals from the normal soldiers once there enshrined. If J politicians truely wanted to pray for the war dead less the criminals then all they need to do is visit Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery as the Japaese Imperial family do. But that takes class, understanding, without political prejudice. sadly lacking in much of J politics

7 ( +8 / -1 )

Moon1: "They mean nothing to those who have no intention of ever accepting ANY apology."

Wrong. It means nothing because it was completely insincere. So much so that Abe wanted to rescind previous apologies, in case you have forgotten, but only decided not to because it met with criticism at home as well.

"Clearly my point is lost on you."

Ah, the typical Japanese right-wing defense. "You just don't want to understand. I never said that! My point is lost on you! You will just think what you like". Those are not rebuttals but the defense of people who simply choose to ignore the facts. You say that "Japan has been peaceful since war", dismissing completely that this is about Japanese politicians going in an official capacity to honor those who died DURING wars in which thousands of the soldiers who are enshrined their committed heinous atrocities. If you're going to deflect by talking about how peaceful Japan has been since the war ended, you might want to think about saving that for a thread that praises Japan's constitution -- oh wait, Abe and Co. want to change that! Hmmm... guess you can't there, either.

7 ( +12 / -5 )

Are these guys so ignorant??? If you really love Japan and are such a patriot you do what is in the best interest of Japan, you put pride aside along with ignorance. These guys are clueless and we all wonder why Japan is just getting left behind more and more.

12 ( +14 / -2 )

If only there was some way we could know for sure if Japan's repeated apologies for WWII were sincere...

5 ( +9 / -4 )

Wrong. It means nothing because it was completely insincere. So much so that Abe wanted to rescind previous apologies, in case you have forgotten, but only decided not to because it met with criticism at home as well.

More mind reading Smith?

You say that "Japan has been peaceful since war", dismissing completely that this is about Japanese politicians going in an official capacity to honor those who died DURING wars in which thousands of the soldiers who are enshrined their committed heinous atrocities. If you're going to deflect by talking about how peaceful Japan has been since the war ended, you might want to think about saving that for a thread that praises Japan's constitution -- oh wait, Abe and Co. want to change that! Hmmm... guess you can't there, either.

Yes Japan has been peaceful since the war as I am sure even you might know. I am not dismissing anything, I am saying that harping on about these people visiting a shrine is a good way to take the focus off other things. More important things and my example was Chinas air incursions which I happen to believe are more dangerous and telling. But since you are a true hater (many of your posts seem to indicate as such) my point will of course be dismissed by you.

-13 ( +1 / -14 )

I hope these guys will make up the front line if war breaks out with China...or another idea... Heck even that guy in Breaking Bad (who was unable to talk/ walk) was able to take out some of the "bad guys". Maybe they can pull a Star Trek 3 with a ship (but instead of transporting away, they can be on board for the self destruct of their ship loaded with the bad guys coming to take over.) They all can do their part...no need to sacrifice those under 35 in battle first.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Based on the freedom of faith stipulated in the constitution, it should be allowed if it’s done in private, but not as a public servant. What makes this more complicated is the Japanese traditional religious outlook that any crime committed when they were alive should be sublimed with their bodies after death, which would be difficult to understand from outside, as the victims and their families might still have to live in agony.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Japantoday, is a leftist site that just loves to run Abe bashing and Jiminto bashing articles. I've never seen anything possitive about the present administration on this site. It's a a damn shame because jounalism is only one sided with the leftist agenda brain washing sheepeople.

-15 ( +2 / -17 )

Well Pat, you just do not know what is really leftist and JT is not it. The vast majority of posters here are anti-Abe. This is not JT's doing but Abe's.

Oh yes, brilliant posts sfjp330 and wtfjapan.

12 ( +13 / -1 )

The lawmakers have everyright to visit a shrine that honors their entire war dead from all previous wars. The US does it at the Tomb for the Unknown Soldier,. The Koreans have their own as do all other existing civilizations.

-13 ( +1 / -14 )

as has been pointed out to you time and time again on this site shonanbb, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier DOES NOT honor war criminals. It also does not whitewash American history. If any place in Japan in equivalent to the Tomb or Arlington Cemetery, then Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery is it.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Moon

Never said it was a case of either or. Clearly my point is lost on you

Well then please clarify your point. Telling me it's lost on me is no retort whatsoever. It seemed to me that your point was to dismiss the opinions of 'Japan haters' (defined by what - on the basis of your having assigned them to that group?) by saying they only complain about Yasukuni to distract from China's shenanigans. But you can't dismiss someone's point by calling them a 'Japan hater' - what they love or hate is irrelevant to the point they make - and you can't possibly know what a poster thinks about China on the basis of their opinions regarding Yasukuni. So if that isn't what you meant, please set the record straight and try to avoid the temptation to make personal digs. China's behaviour (which I agree is highly problematic) is no excuse for historical revisionism and atrocity denial in Japan.

@trinklets

when I visited the shrine last month, I left the place with a heavy heart. That was due to the last letters written by the soldiers.

They are indeed very poignant, as are the dolls knitted by bereaved mothers to accompany their unmarried sons in the afterlife. And did the Death Railway locomotive on display also leave you with a heavy heart? Probably not (unless you already know the story) because the Yushukan pointedly ignores the horrors of which that locomotive is a symbol. The Yushukan may not glorify war (debatable I'd say, with some of the paintings hung in there) but it certainly portrays Japan as the victim, portrays the US as the aggressor, and completely ignores the horrors unleashed by Japan upon China and South East Asia.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Japantoday, is a leftist site that just loves to run Abe bashing and Jiminto bashing articles.

@Pat

This and most of the other content on Japan Today about Abe, the LDP and other politics is from news agencies. This particular one and many others are from the Agence France-Presse (AFP).

If you want something that caters to Abe/the LDP and is more uyoku-ish right-wing, then I would recommend subscribing to the quasi-government NHK. Should be right up your alley.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

If only the Chinese and Koreans were as honest about their own histories as they demand the Japanese be, there might be some room for movement but, like all politicians, both ruling parties (like all ruling parties) are more concerned with maintaining their own grip on power than on providing an accurate historical record that would leave them shamefaced and out of power.

-4 ( +5 / -9 )

I am want for apology from the USA for what they did to Vietnam, Cambodia, Chilli, Iraqi, Timor leste and the list goes on. Not to mention all the weapons they gave Isis. and the 2 million refugee which USA will not take.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

MacArthur was right about Japan (igloobuyer)

that also brings to mind Roosevelt's article "shall we trust japan?" (1923). in this case, one may wonder religion should uphold peaceful purposes, one question therefore is why yasukuni owners or priests accept this till now if they know well that it is a direct affront against japan's victims. religion somehow should also impartial at least, do they think the souls' of japan's victims does not matter (or should not rest in peace)? many unanswered questions that need to be challenged rather than being put aside.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

anotherexpatOCT. 20, 2015 - 08:12PM JST If only the Chinese and Koreans were as honest about their own histories as they demand the Japanese be, there might be some room for movement but, like all politicians, both ruling parties (like all ruling parties) are more concerned with maintaining their own grip on power than on providing an accurate historical record that would leave them shamefaced and out of power.

Somehow I don't think the ball is in China or SK's court on this.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

@David: I disagree with you, but that is ok. The Tomb honors all fallen both known and unknown. It honors those that fell for the country, whether or not they were good soldiers or bad. Confederate and union alike. Yasukini does the same. Anyone that falls for their country, whether the countries govt. was bad or good should be admirly honored. German SS included. Most did not have a choice. This is coming from a Jew. If Hitler were ensrined, I would have an issue. Napolian, no. Polpot yes. ...there are many variables to think about with these issues. But Yakasuni honors war dead for the millions that perished. In your silent prayers when visiting, you can request to minus those you believed were evil. That is your choice and I respect that. I do the same.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

a strong message to Komeito. We now don't need your cooperation in anything anymore.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

JT being stupid today. If JT moderators are trying to delete comments who did not support for this unlawful shrine, that's mean JT moderates are pure ignorance to happenings during WW2.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Another Japan paradox - most people in the country want peace and to get on with their neighbors and their elected representatives purposely annoy/upset them with these meaningless visits. If Abe wants to pay homage to these war criminals why doesn't he build a memorial for them in his back yard...I'm totally fed up of seeing this happen time & time again - it demonstrates that they really don't give a toss about peace,

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Yes let hear it for Macartherism. A fascist movement indorse by the good old USA. Or Propping up Saddam before he became a pain in the a$$, Concora arm deal with Iran. Penoshade Chilli, Vietnam, booming a neutral Cambodia, The Indochina mess, the list just go on and on and on and don,t forget Afghanistan, 16 years of war on a society with nil result like Vietnam and they had nothing to do with 11/9. Let not forget the biggest war crime this century of invading Iraq for non reason but a lie of WMD which the USA fabricated. A LIe that killed many of my and your follow country men ( over 3,000 USA soldiers alone). if your going talk about war crimes or crime against humanity the USA would be number one on that list over the last 70 years. So let not visit Arlington because of the USA involvement in war crime over the last 70 years. Get real. soldiers follow orders they don,t make the orders. The Politician do. They don,t bury politician in war graves. So to the comment comdeming the Japanese for honouring the soldiers is bias to the point of sicking

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Yoshitsune

It seemed to me that your point was to dismiss the opinions of 'Japan haters' (defined by what - on the basis of your having assigned them to that group?)

The haters make no secret of it, all I do is look at their past comments and on what subjects. It's fairly clear there are a number that focus in this type of story and stay away from others.

I'll repeat what I said earlier. I am not dismissing anything, I am saying that harping on about these people visiting a shrine is a good way for China to take the focus off other things. More important things and my example was Chinas air incursions which I happen to believe are more dangerous and telling.

-6 ( +1 / -7 )

I agree, there are more important and more worrisome things in China's behaviour. But that doesn't mean criticisms of Yasukuni are false, and to bring them up when the topic is Yasukuni is straying into whataboutery.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

that doesn't mean criticisms of Yasukuni are false

False because no legal ground.

-12 ( +2 / -14 )

Please elaborate Tina, because I have no clue what that is supposed to mean

3 ( +5 / -2 )

The 2nd World War has been over for more than 70 years! Most of the people visiting this Shrine were not even Born at the time of this War. Maybe it is time for China and South Korea to concentrate on other things than continuously mouthing off about this Shrine! If a person or persons want to visit Yukushuni Shrine it is THEIR business, not these other idiots!

-4 ( +4 / -8 )

While people here follow the media like sheep and believe entire countries hate each other, flocks of tourists from China and Korea are visiting Japan and Japanese are heading into Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong like nothing. Yes, there are people that don't care about disgruntled politicians.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

canadianbento - that is a nice saying

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Yasukuni is a symbol of Japan's militarist past. That is rather the point. That is why the right wing nut job religious zealots who run the place 'interned the souls' of over 1000 war criminals.

They did so as a big finger to the US, to defeat. They did so to support historical revisionism.

Yasukuni is not your average national war cemetery, honoring 'war dead." All those tried, convicted and put to death for war crimes did not die in battle. And they are honored as war dead?

Puh-lease.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Is there something wrong with honoring a nation's war dead? Sure, there are individuals interred there who were war criminals, but during times of war atrocities are committed by both sides. The thing is, the winner of the war gets to write history and white-wash their own war crimes. American war cemeteries are brimming with dead soldiers and officers who by today's standards could easily be categorized as war criminals. I don't see American politicians being condemned for visiting their own military cemeteries and paying homage to their fallen soldiers.

-6 ( +3 / -9 )

I wrote once. These lawmakers are declaring, "We are a majority by ourselves. We son't need you anymore. Join other parties. Bye bye Komeito"

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Yasukuni is a Shinto shrine and therefore adherents of other faiths cannot be enshrined there. Some people arrogantly claim the shrine honours the spirits of all war dead, but I see this as an insult to those who did not believe in Shinto but nevertheless sacrificed their lives to satisfy the power-crazed ambitions of politicians.

By limiting their visits to Yasukuni Japanese politicians show their contempt and indifference to those of other faiths, or of no faith, who died for their country. For this reason a secular memorial is needed to honour all those who died for Japan.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

@DaDude,

While people here follow the media like sheep and believe entire countries hate each other, flocks of tourists from China and Korea are visiting Japan and Japanese are heading into Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong like nothing. Yes, there are people that don't care about disgruntled politicians.

Yeah, and there are thousands of Russians that go to America, and thousands of Americans that go to Russia. What their leaders do still matters.

@canadianbento

The 2nd World War has been over for more than 70 years! Most of the people visiting this Shrine were not even Born at the time of this War.

So if these politicians went to a Neo-Nazi rally you'd have no problem? It's been 70 years right... And yes, if you're Chinese, Korean, or any one of Japan's former victim's, the politics, history, and people who run Yasukuni are akin to Neo-Nazis.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

MacArthur was right about Japan.

But wrong to allow a general amnesty in 1949. The Americans cut the grass but didn't pull out the weeds

0 ( +1 / -1 )

wtfjapan: Perhaps it is those they were paying respects to as the Shinto religious leaders state its impossible to seperate the criminals from the normal soldiers once there enshrined.

Keep firing priests until you find one that can do the job.

And ban those goosestepping Neo-Imperial freaks, as well.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Blackbird439 OCT. 21, 2015 - 03:42AM JST Is there something wrong with honoring a nation's war dead? Sure, there are individuals interred there who were war criminals, but during times of war atrocities are committed by both sides. The thing is, the winner of the war gets to write history and white-wash their own war crimes.

If that is the case, why don't we see German Chancellor Merkel and 100 of top German government representatives visiting Nazi Cemetery? They had similar results from the war, but why is there such a difference in behavior of German politicians compare to Japanese politicians?

These Japanese politicians who insist that they are only paying tribute to those who died for their country when they visit Yasukuni are not telling the truth. If that’s all they wanted to do, they could walk five minutes down to Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery. Emperor Hirohito stopped visiting Yasukuni after 1978 because the shrine had been tainted by the presence of the Class A war criminals. His son, current Emperor Akihito, has maintained the imperial embargo on visits. Yasukuni is not about dignified homage, it is about scoring political points and drawing attention to revisionist history. The only thing that Japan’s modern reactionaries regret about the war is defeat, and they are still fighting an uphill battle against Japanese public opinion to justify wartime Japan’s “noble mission.” No amount of sanitizing will change that. The only way to end the controversy is to impose a moratorium on visits to Yasukuni by any serving Cabinet minister. If Abe is truly looking for a new beginning for Japan’s relations with its neighbors, that’s where he should start.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

One thing to keep in mind (Japan) is that perception is everything in the real-time world we live in today.

The perception of honoring the war dead is a good perception HOWEVER at a an Honored War Memorial - not a hallowed Shrine.

Yasukuni Shrine IS a Shinto Shrine - Not a War Memorial.

Yasukuni Shrine was commissioned to honor and enshrine those who fought and died for the Emperor (during the Meiji Period) this being long before WW2 and that concept was fantastic up until after WW2 when in 1978 14 War Criminals named were snuck into the "Book of Souls" immortalizing them and a WW2 Museum Honoring the Imperial Army that went to War with China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Britain & The United States.

That's the Continental Divide with your Asian Neighbors as to who (by perception) should've been Honored and who should not have been Immortalized.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

The thing is, the winner of the war gets to write history and white-wash their own war crimes

Right. 'Cause no one in the US knows about the Internment of Japanese-Americans, the fire bombings of Dresden, the atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, or the stealing away of Nazi rocket scientists.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Hidehisa Otsuji is a member of Nippon Kaigi: NIPPON KAIGI: IDEALS: (Wiki) "The group describes its aims as to "change the postwar national consciousness based on the Tokyo Tribunal's view of history as a fundamental problem" and to "revise the current Constitution." Norimitsu Onishi considers that the organization promotes a revival of the fundamentals of the Empire of Japan. The nationalist movement sees its mission to promote patriotic education, the revision of the Constitution of Japan, and support for prime ministers' official visits to Yasukuni Shrine. In the words of Hideaki Kase, an influential member of Nippon Kaigi, "We are dedicated to our conservative cause. We are monarchists. We are for revising the constitution. We are for the glory of the nation." Nippon Kaigi supports revising the Japanese Constitution, especially Article 9 which forbids a standing army.

Muneo Narusawa considers that, in parallel with historical revisionism, the organization often highlights historical facts that convey Japan as a victim such as the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki or the North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens. Education minister Hakubun Shimomura, the secretary general of the Discussion Group of Nippon Kaigi Diet Members (Nippon Kaigi kokkai giin kondankai - 日本会議国会議員懇談会), argues for patriotic education and opposes a "masochistic view of history". According to a February 2014 report by the U.S. Congressional Research Service, Nippon Kaigi Kyokai believes that "Japan should be applauded for liberating much of East Asia from Western colonial powers", that "the 1946-1948 Tokyo War Crimes tribunals were illegitimate", and that "the killings by Imperial Japanese troops during the 1937 Nanjing massacre were exaggerated or fabricated". The group vigorously defends Japan's claim in its territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands with China, and denies that Japan forced the "comfort women" into sexual slavery during World War II. Nippon Kaigi fights against feminism, LGBT rights, and the 1999 Gender Equality Law.

Nippon Kaigi aims to restore the Shinto god-like status of the Emperor of Japan"

2 ( +3 / -1 )

I honor all war dead, even Islamic.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Patrick: "Nippon Kaigi aims to restore the Shinto god-like status of the Emperor of Japan"

They just don't want to listen to him.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

So what is big deal, Japan behaves like Godzilla tie up to the tree you can play with it but if it moves everybody run in panic and this what China is doing right now together with South Korea...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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