I wish to comment on the leader 'Koizumi must make amends for shrine visit' (October 18).
Ordinary Japanese might say: 'What is wrong if [Prime Minister Junichiro] Koizumi wants to visit the Yasukuni Shrine for personal reasons? The Chinese and Korean governments are too sensitive. It is Japanese tradition to go to a shrine to mourn for the dead.'
The issue of Yasukuni is very complicated and even most Japanese do not know what kind of shrine it is.
Why is this shrine so controversial? A Tokyo University professor points out that during the second world war, Yasukuni played a role as the 'alchemy of emotion', transforming to happiness the sadness of death in action. Fallen soldiers were honoured and mourned in Yasukuni. Death in action had to be 'glorious', not 'tragic'.
The issue of war criminals enshrined together with other war dead has often been discussed in Japan, but not the country's colonialism as a whole.
Some might claim that the war dead fought for the people and country, but we need to remember that the 'country' meant not only Japan but its colonial empire.
Mr Koizumi says visiting the Yasukuni shrine is a domestic affair. However, the war dead mourned there are not only Japanese. And there are a large number of war victims outside Japan. Shouldn't condolences be offered for them, too?
