Japanese lawmakers ignore China rebuke and visit controversial Yasukuni war shrine
China and South Korea see the shrine as a painful reminder of Tokyo’s wartime brutality
Dozens of Japanese members of parliament visited Yasukuni Shrine for war dead on Tuesday to mark an autumn festival at the shrine, seen in China and the two Koreas as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism.
Kyodo news agency said about 80 lawmakers visited the shrine. Health, Labour and Welfare Minister Yasuhisa Shiozaki sent an aide to represent him, an official at Shiozaki’s office said. Earlier, Kyodo had said Shiozaki himself went.
Visits by Japanese leaders to Yasukuni have outraged China and South Korea because the shrine honours 14 Japanese leaders convicted by an Allied tribunal as war criminals, along with other war dead.
South Korea expressed “deep concern and disappointment” over the shrine visit and offering by Japanese political leaders.
“(We) urge Japanese politicians to gain trust from neighbouring countries and the international community by showing an act of humble introspection and sincere self-reflection on the foundation of the correct perception of history,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.