Kishida sends ritual offering to Yasukuni Shrine

The problem of the LDP and many world leaders in the world is called nationalism.

“ Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday sent a ritual offering to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, a source of diplomatic friction with some of Japan's Asian neighbors who view it as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.

Yasukuni Shrine honors the souls of the nation's more than 2.4 million war dead but Japanese wartime leaders convicted as war criminals in a post-World War II international tribunal are also enshrined there. “

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Their country, their history, their people, their shrine.

The problem of the LDP and many world leaders in the world is called nationalism.

Honoring your fallen is not Nationalism. It is gratitude.

Their country..

Their culture..

Their customs..

Their religion

Their rules..

Their Japan..

God Bless Japan !!..

You missed one.

"Our taxes!"

Any nation should be able to decide who and where to bury it's dead regardless of what the rest of the world thinks. Japan is a free and democratic nation now and it is up to it's people make this choice without the influence of any outsiders.

There are no dead at Yasukuni, or graves, or bones, or any type of human remains. Just names.

The problem of the LDP and many world leaders in the world is called nationalism.

It's how inept and useless governments survive. They have nothing else to offer.

Honoring your fallen is not Nationalism. It is gratitude.

enshrining class A war criminals because you dont agree with the outcome of the war and Tokyo trials is

nationalism.

https://www.nippon.com/en/in-depth/a02404/

Any nation should be able to decide who and where to bury it's dead regardless of what the rest of the world thinks. Japan is a free and democratic nation now and it is up to it's people make this choice without the influence of any outsiders.

oh ok they the Germans can start commemorating the Nazi war dead including Hitler and nobody should be offended by it

If the ritual of honoring the war dead in Japan is so innocuous and praiseworthy, then why don’t counties in Asia do so?

The Japanese forces that injured, maimed, killed, raped and pillaged many countries in Asia should surely be feted as liberators, shouldn’t they?

Maybe not…

Sent not as an individual, but as prime minister 総理大臣岸田文雄.

wtfjapanToday  11:21 am JST

Honoring your fallen is not Nationalism. It is gratitude.

enshrining class A war criminals because you dont agree with the outcome of the war and Tokyo trials is

nationalism.

The Judge from India, Justice Radhabinod Pal who served on the Tribunal for the Far East (Tokyo Trials) did not agree with the Trials or their outcome. He was hardly a Japanese nationalist.

As an Australian whose father fought against Japan in WWII, I have no issue with the main shrine for war dead in Japan being sent a "ritual offering" by Japan's Prime Minister or anyone else. I do not care whose name is on what list. They are all dead and beyond caring what happens in the land of the living. If the A class criminals were alive and getting solace from such an offering I would have a different view.

Those who have died can not be helped or hurt any more by the living.

Many religions preach forgiveness even for the worst people committing the worst crimes. Being atheist I follow none of these, yet I can forgive the dead, while continuing to remember and mourn the victims. Holding on to the anger for criminals crimes committed over 70 years ago is one thing. Getting angry at the living that see things differently to yourself is another.

A Prime Minister is responsible for honoring the sacrifice of those who have fallen for their country. You do that at your nations main war shrine. He is doing his duty, no differently to any leader of any nation. I will not condemn him for that.

There it is. The remedy to Kishida's low approval ratings. If he pays a visit, he could even go above water. Politics is an easy game in Japan.

There can be no support that Imperialist Japan or what the tried and executed war criminals did,

The names of the War Criminals were secretly added by the high priest and now cannot be removed. Like it or lump it.

There it is. The remedy to Kishida's low approval ratings. If he pays a visit, he could even go above water. Politics is an easy game in Japan.

Another big patron for the LDP, the Unification Church must be critical of the Yasukuni visit :) The cult has exploited war issues and Japan's sense of guilt for their own sake. They might want to condemn the Yasukuni shrine as Satan (but is likely to praise the Kim family's statues in Pyongyang).

Those who are criticising LDP for taking refuge in nationalism should also understand that China and South Korea display faux outrage because of the same reasons of nationalism which keeps an issue which has long been settled festering and endears them to their domestic audiences.

@Wallace..."your taxes", deducted from money made off "them" while reaping the benefit of living in "their" country.

@kurisupisu " If the ritual of honoring the war dead in Japan is so innocuous and praiseworthy, then why don’t counties in Asia do so?" I don't know about Asia, but I know America honors the Vietnam war dead. What business did America have incinerating, raping and pillaging the Vietnamese?

Geeter Mckluskie

@Wallace..."your taxes", deducted from money made off "them" while reaping the benefit of living in "their" country

once again you honour the halls of JT. I run my own business. Not all incomes is from Japanese sources. But all sources are non the less taxed.

While like all other non Japanese citizens without a vote, we can at least, at times vent our feelings and opinions in these learned halls.

But nothing can be done about Yasukuni Shrine or a host of other concerns.

But I am able to express my opinions to politicians in the Diets who listen keenly.

My Japanese spouse and all of my Japanese friends are pacifists and do not support the shrine. Some were imprisoned during the war for refusing to support the war.

Whatever. The saddest part is that Kishida is only doing it because he wants to be like Abe.

If people honestly think this political ritual / tradition will ever change, they're delusional. This is not something we foreigners (at least some of us) will ever seem to understand, let alone have a right to dictate. Getting mad at symbolism is a futile exercise in frustration and anger. Let it go. Let them do their thing. The point is that somewhere in all this madness is respect, mostly for the deceased. I see nothing wrong with this.

Japan Today, try this: The next time a politician visits Yasukuni Shrine, don't send a reporter to cover his\her visit and don't publish anything from other sources about the visit--then wait to see how many complaints you get from readers for not covering the event. I don't think you'll get any.

Nah....Even this will not help to improve the approval rate. It is already below 30% - He should try doing something better, only if he already knows what is better

The Yasukuni Shrine debate is one which almost certainly always results in nothing being gained by its detractors; in fact I think it usually has the adverse effect of generating even more Nippon Kaigi/far right-wing support. This is essentially an open-and-shut case and a losing issue.

I have been highly critical of Japanese Xenophobia during the era of Covid, but finally that is starting to change for the better with the reopening of the border. However, when it comes to the Yasukuni Shrine, the issue is always framed as though it is a place built for the specific purpose of honoring war criminals, when actually, it was built in the century prior to WW2. Many people don't understand that and many that do purposefully leave that part out and/or obfuscate what they're actually arguing. In the end, those that criticize the shrine are almost always unintentionally or intentionally attacking all of Japan's war dead, not just the war criminals. Japan's government didn't even add the names of the war criminals to the shrine - they were simply unable to reverse it, because ironically, that would violate the constitutional freedom of religion implemented by the allied powers during the occupation.

Moreover, the narrative surrounding the issue was essentially manufactured propaganda by nationalists and communists in both Korea and China for the explicit purpose of drumming up support for increased militarism. The Liberal "Intellectuals" in America and other places that continue to insert themselves into this debate (despite not knowing the Japanese language, culture, or even the full history of the shrine) are ironically and unwittingly doing the bidding of political bad actors overseas, some of which are even hostile to them.

It's a totally pointless debate to engage in. Why not argue for the bettering of circumstances faced by immigrants in today's Japan, rather than obsessing over dead issues? Like what Vietnamese students and workers are dealing with here? Eventually, it is time to move on, and accept that Japan has the full right to honor their war dead, regardless of how people not from or living in Japan feel.

Geeter Mckluskie

Most of the constitution covers non Japanese citizens too. Don’t assume everyone on JT is a foreigner.

@Arisa

"Honoring your fallen is not Nationalism. It is gratitude."

Deifying war criminals responsible for innumerable deaths goes a bit beyond gratitude.

Honoring your fallen is not Nationalism. It is gratitude.

Governments, not "the fallen" start wars. After the horrors of the two world wars and all the rest many people like me are sick of the hypocrisy of those who wage wars without asking (the people): government leaders and their ilk can keep their "gratitude".

There are only memorials there, not remains of soldiers. It is said that the only remains are those of Chinese or Koreans how supported the Japanese, so their bodies cannot be returned to China or Korea. They wanted Japan to invade and kick out the European imperialism. They didn't think that Japan would stay.

TokyoLivingToday  10:29 am JST

Their country..

Their culture..

Their customs..

Their religion

Their rules..

Their Japan..

God Bless Japan !!..

Their Emperor. He never goes there. Neither did the previous two Emperors.

Quote from the above:

The Japanese forces that injured, maimed, killed, raped and pillaged many countries in Asia should surely be feted as liberators, shouldn’t they?

Maybe not…

Certainly not. The Prime Minister's annual visit to Yasukuni is an ipso facto reiteration of the myth that there was something holy in Japan's slaughter and torture of innocent people in World War II and before.

manekuToday  06:31 pm JST

There are only memorials there, not remains of soldiers. It is said that the only remains are those of Chinese or Koreans how supported the Japanese, so their bodies cannot be returned to China or Korea. They wanted Japan to invade and kick out the European imperialism. They didn't think that Japan would stay.

I’m not a fan of Europan imperialism but people should stop bashing the old continent because asians were as imperialist and even more destructive in history,Mongols first and then Chinese and the Japanese empire.

Today  04:00 pm JST

Their country ,their history ,their people ,their shrine

“ I think you don't understand what the issue is ?

It's what their people did to other countries and was never truly held accountable and has tried to change the history that's the issue.

The acts committed during the showa era are the worst ever committed by any County in the history of mankind. “

The issue is that people do not comprehend the meaning of dying for your country; 2.5 million people; that includes kamikaze pilots who were just 15, 16 and 17 years old; doesn’t matter if you were fighting for the good guys or the bad guys, I’m talking about the millions of dead people who followed orders(!) and loved their country. People can talk about numbers, politicians, governments and war criminals but that should be discussed separately. ( of course China and the Koreas will never try to make that distinction, because for them it’s all about politics )

The issue is that people do not comprehend the meaning of dying for your country; 2.5 million people; that includes kamikaze pilots who were just 15, 16 and 17 years old; doesn’t matter if you were fighting for the good guys or the bad guys, I’m talking about the millions of dead people who followed orders(!) 

And it was the government that started the war of aggression and, when the leaders knew the war was already lost, they sent the kamikaze boys to die a meaningless death, the very worst example of child abuse. "Following Orders" is the same stone foolish humans trip over time and time again. When will we ever learn?

The previous high priest of the shrine bears full responsibility for interning the names of the war criminals without consulting with anyone.

It is easy to stop the controversy about the shrine by just stopping publicising it.

If the visits are private and so are the donations why does the media need to constantly hash the story?

With a special gift for Class A war criminals

The Irony here, when compared to the Unification Church's Gifting....

Zenkoku Senbotsusha Tsuitōshiki is an official, secular ceremony to remember Japan's war dead and is conducted annually on August 15, by the Japanese government at the Nippon Budokan. There is really no need to send a ritual offering to the shrine in question.

The EASIEST way to stop the insinuations & issues at Yasukuni is to MOVE the A-C class war criminals to a different shrine. The A-class were installed by a war-mongering head priest (Matsudaira Nagayoshi).

Mostly the A-class because they’re the absolutely MOST contentious group to countries who suffered under their control.

wallaceOct. 17  09:12 pm JST

If the visits are private and so are the donations why does the media need to constantly hash the story?

I think LDP politicians are quite keen to burnish their right-wing nationalist credentials so that all those kinds of people know who to vote for and send money to, so they make sure their media friends keep reporting this kind of stuff.

wolfshineOct. 17 04:12 pm JST

Japan's government didn't even add the names of the war criminals to the shrine - they were simply unable to reverse it, because ironically, that would violate the constitutional freedom of religion implemented by the allied powers during the occupation.

Seems you are quite unfamiliar with the Yasukuni's head priest Matsudaira Nagayoshi and his ideological agenda, a lieutenant commander in the Imperial Navy during World War II and an officer in the Self-Defense Forces after World War II (no history of holding any positions in any religious institutions prior to becoming Yasukuni's head priest) and his obscure relationship with the The Health and Welfare Ministry’s Repatriation Relief Bureau, largely staffed by former military personnel, and the process for nominating deceased persons given to the shrine by the government in the saijin meihyō.

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. https://www.nippon.com/en/in-depth/a02404/

Many here seem to confuse a shrine with a cemetery. It’s about praying to gods and wishing for the souls of the deceased. And this shrine is specific for prayers to the gods for the souls of everyone who died due to war. That has nothing to do with honoring only or especially your so-called war criminals. If you would think a minute or two about it, you would surely realize that everyone in a war is a victim and a criminal at the same time, victim of the war circumstances and criminal in a sense of having killed enemies or other people and not having done enough to oppose the war or not let the war even begin.

Only the deceased with names are interned at Yasukuni. Unknown deceased are in the National War Cemetery.

By ALL means Mr Kishida, SEND your ritual offerings to the shrine. But do NOT publize your offerings.

Seems you are quite unfamiliar with the Yasukuni's head priest Matsudaira Nagayoshi and his ideological agenda, a lieutenant commander in the Imperial Navy during World War II and an officer in the Self-Defense Forces after World War II (no history of holding any positions in any religious institutions prior to becoming Yasukuni's head priest) and his obscure relationship with the The Health and Welfare Ministry’s Repatriation Relief Bureau, largely staffed by former military personnel, and the process for nominating deceased persons given to the shrine by the government in the saijin meihyō.

Don't think it really matters, and basically nothing in my comment is changed by such a granular factoid. The debate is still a dead issue that was always plagued by insane amounts of misinformation and coping.

wolfshineToday  08:23 pm JST

Don't think it really matters, and basically nothing in my comment is changed by such a granular factoid. The debate is still a dead issue that was always plagued by insane amounts of misinformation and coping.

i guess wanting to seek the truth these days is an undesirable commodity and far less trendy as it requires spending a bit more time researching and discovering possible faults in one’s perceptions and less time typing and pretending to know everything.