Abe’s offering and lawmakers’ visit to Yasukuni shrine for war dead rile China, South Korea
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent a ritual offering Friday to Tokyo’s controversial war-linked Yasukuni Shrine for its annual spring festival, drawing criticism from China and South Korea that suffered Japan’s wartime brutality.
Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Sanae Takaichi visited the shrine Friday, telling reporters she went “as a Japanese person, to offer my gratitude with reverence to those who died for state policies.”
Abe has not visited the Shinto shrine since December 2013 – a year after he became prime minister for the second time – instead making the same masakaki offerings for its spring and autumn festivals. He is again expected to forgo a visit during the spring festival ending Sunday.
We urge Japan to face squarely and deeply reflect on its history of aggression and win back the trust of its Asian neighbours and the international community
The shrine honours Japanese second world war leaders who were convicted of war crimes by a postwar international tribunal, along with millions of war dead.