appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

liveArticle

appConfig

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sectionsV2

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

json

Reuters

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent a ritual offering to a shrine for war dead on Monday, the anniversary of Japan’s second world war defeat, but did not visit the shrine, which is seen in China and South Korea as a symbol of Tokyo’s wartime militarism.
Visits to Yasukuni Shrine by top Japanese politicians outrage China and South Korea because it honours 14 Japanese leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal, along with war dead.
Emperor Akihito turns 82 urging Japan to remember the bitter lessons of war
Ties between China and Japan, Asia’s two largest economies, were strained in recent days after a growing number of Chinese coastguard and other government ships sailed near disputed islets in the East China Sea.

New Defence Minister Tomomi Inada, who has been accused by China of recklessly misrepresenting history after she declined to say whether Japanese troops massacred civilians in China during the second world war, was visiting troops in Djibouti and unable able to go to the shrine as she has in the past.

Abe has not visited the shrine in person since December 2013, but has instead sent ritual offerings.
“He told me to come and my visit was out of respect to those who gave their lives for the country,” said Yasutoshi Nishimura, an aide in Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), who gave the offering in Abe’s name as LDP president rather than premier.

Emperor Akihito, speaking at a ceremony honouring victims of the war, expressed “deep remorse” over the conflict fought in the name of his father, Hirohito. He first used the phrase at the memorial service last year on the 70th anniversary of the war’s end. Some saw it as a subtle rebuke to the conservative Abe, who favours a less apologetic tone.
In Nanjing, China, Chinese and South Korea representatives gathered at a memorial hall for victims of Japan’s notorious 1937 Nanking massacre to commemorate victory in what China calls the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
China, which was partially occupied by Japan from the early 1930s to 1945, marks the end of the war on September 3.


“Reflecting on our past with a feeling of deep remorse, I earnestly hope the ravages of war will never be repeated,” said Akihito, 82. The emperor hinted in a rare video address last week at wanting to abdicate in a few years.
Abe reiterated his pledge not to let the tragedy of war be repeated, but he neither mentioned Japan’s wartime actions in Asia nor apologised to its victims.

“Going forward, and sticking to this firm pledge while facing history with humility, we will make every effort to contribute to world peace and prosperity and the realisation of a world where everyone can live without fear,” he said.
Among the roughly 70 lawmakers who visited Yasukuni Shrine were Olympics Minister Tamayo Marukawa and Shinjiro Koizumi, the son of popular prime minister Junichiro Koizumi, himself often tipped as a future premier.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga declined to comment on the visits, saying it was a private matter for each individual.
Suga also said a morning visit by South Korean lawmakers to a disputed set of islands, known as Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in South Korea, was “extremely regrettable” and that Japan would protest strongly.
The row over the islets is one of a number of bitter disputes that have tainted relations between Seoul and Tokyo for decades.

Seoul’s foreign ministry said that it expresses deep worry and regret over leaders from the Japanese government and parliament repeatedly paying homage to Yasukuni Shrine.
Abe’s likely decision not to visit the shrine on Monday comes as the government is making arrangements for talks between him and President Xi Jinping on the fringes of a Group of 20 gathering to be held in China next month.
Recently, Japan has warned that ties with China are worsening, citing Chinese government vessels’ repeated entry into Japanese waters near the Japan-controlled, China-claimed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. China calls the islets Diaoyu.
In talks with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida last month in Laos, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi demanded that Japan be careful of what it says about South China Sea matters, in a call for Japan not to interfere. Japan is not directly involved in the overlapping territorial claims in this sea pitting China against some Southeast Asian countries.
Additional reporting by Kyodo


Japan’s Takaichi sends Yasukuni shrine offering, South Korea expresses ‘regret’

Japan’s wartime past weighs on growing military role in Philippines

Japanese atomic bomb survivor who hugged Obama in Hiroshima dies at 88

US returns for WWII dead of Japan’s ‘hell ship’ tomb in the Philippines

Legacy of war in Asia

Japan PM Abe sends ritual offering to controversial Yasukuni shrine on anniversary of second world war defeat

Japanese men wear imperial army costumes at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. Photo: EPA

Visitors pay respects to the war dead at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo Monday, Aug. 15, 2016. Japan marked the 71st anniversary of the end of World War II. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

epa05486210 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe lays a flower at an altar during a memorial service at Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo, Japan, 15 August 2016. The annual ceremony mared the 71st anniversary of the end of World War II, held in rememberance of the Japanese soldiers and civilians who lost their lives during the conflict. EPA/KIYOSHI OTA

A man dressed as Japanese imperial army soldier salutes next to a rising sun flag flag in front of Yasukuni Shrine on the anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War Two in Tokyo, Japan, August 15, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Tomomi Inada, Japan's new defense minister, inspects an honor guard at an Air Self-Defense Force base in Komatsu, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Aug. 12, 2016. Her ministry said the same day that Inada, who before entering the Cabinet regularly visited Tokyo's controversial Yasukuni Shrine on the Aug. 15 anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, will go on an overseas trip that will prevent her from visiting there on the anniversary. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

epa05486216 Japanese right-wing group members offer prayers at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Japan, 15 August 2016. Japan marks the 71st anniversary of the end of the World War II on 15 August. About 3.1 million Japanese soldiers and people were killed during the war, almost 2.5 million of whom are enshrined at Yasukuni, including convicted WWII war criminals. EPA/CHRISTOPHER JUE

Japanese lawmakers leave after their worshipping the war dead on the 71st anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II at the controversial Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo on August 15, 2016. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent a ritual donation to a controversial Tokyo war shrine on August 15 -- the 71st anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War II -- but avoided visiting in an apparent nod to China and South Korea. / AFP PHOTO / KAZUHIRO NOGI

epa05486218 Japanese right-wing group members prepare to deliver a speech prior to entering the grounds of the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Japan, 15 August 2016. Japan marks the 71st anniversary of the end of the World War II on 15 August. About 3.1 million Japanese soldiers and people were killed during the war, 2.5 million of whom are enshrined at Yasukuni, including convicted WWII war criminals. EPA/CHRISTOPHER JUE

News

Asia

East Asia