Some 100 Japanese members of parliament prayed at the memorial that commemorates Japan's war dead — including convicted war criminals. South Korea and China slammed the visit.
A group of lawmakers usually visits the controversial shrine for its spring and autumn festivalsImage: Kyodo/picture alliance
Advertisement
About 100 Japanese lawmakers on Tuesday visited the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, triggering protest from South Korea.
The visit marked the first time the group has prayed at the controversial shrine since the coronavirus pandemic began.
The group of lawmakers was also joined by nine state ministers and officials from the Cabinet of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Official visits to the memorial have long sparked criticism from China and South Korea as the shrine commemorates Japanese war dead, including convicted war criminals.
Critics see the visits as a symbol of a lack of remorse over Japan's wartime actions.
The Yasukuni Shrine honors millions of Japanese war dead — but also senior military and political figures convicted of war crimes after World War IIImage: Getty Images/AFP/K. Nogi
How did Seoul and Beijing respond?
South Korea expressed on Tuesday "deep concern and regret" over the "large-scale visit" to the memorial.
"We are again strongly pointing out that the international community could trust Japan when it faces up to history correctly and demonstrates its humble reflection of the past and sincere remorse through actions," the ministry said.
Beijing also sharply criticized the visit. China's Foreign Office spokesperson Zhao Lijian accused Tokyo of provocation, saying that it was "no coincidence" that the group chose the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor 80 years ago for their visit, adding: "What are they up to?"
Advertisement
PM Kishida stays away
Kishida, who became prime minister in early October, sent a ritual offering to Yasukuni for the autumn festival but has not paid an official visit to the shrine since he took office.
On August 15 this year, then-Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga marked the 76th anniversary of Japan's surrender at the end of World War II — but also seemed to avoid visiting the controversial memorial.
However, on the same day, three ministers from Suga's Cabinet and his predecessor Shinzo Abe paid a visit to the Yasukuni Shrine, sparking criticism.
While visits to the shrine bring Japan diplomatic rebukes, they are seen as a domestic tactic to gain support from the conservative wing of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Japan's state-owned broadcaster NHK reported that the group that visited the site on Tuesday included lawmakers of the LDP, as well as from the right-wing Nippon Ishin Japan Innovation Party and the center-right Democratic Party for the People.
In this image from August 2020, members of a far-right group parade at the entrance of the Yasukuni ShrineImage: AFP/C. Triballeau
Why is the Yasukuni Shrine controversial?
Founded in 1869, the memorial is dedicated to some 2.5 million men, women and children who have died in Japan's wars.
Among the Japanese commemorated at the site are World War II leaders who were convicted of war crimes.
The Yasukuni Shrine is seen as a symbol of Japan's history of military aggression, which Tokyo often faces calls to apologize for.
Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, brought the United States into World War II. The date was December 8 in Japan.
Japan's revered war criminals
The souls of 14 convicted war criminals are worshiped as martyrs in Japan's Yasukuni Shrine. DW takes a look at the perpetrators and what they were accused of.
Image: Keystone/Getty Images
Hideki Tojo
Hideki Tojo was Japan's prime minister from 1941 to 1944 and Chief of Staff of the Japanese Imperial Army. He was accused of being responsible for the killing of 4 million Chinese as well as conducting biological experiments on prisoners of war. Following his country's surrender in 1945 he tried to kill himself with a pistol. However, he survived, confessed to the crimes and was hanged in 1948.
Image: Keystone/Getty Images
Kenji Doihara
The "China expert" began his career in 1912 as a secret agent in Beijing. Doihara, who spoke Mandarin and several Chinese dialects fluently, founded the "Manchurian Empire" together with China's last emperor, Puyi. It was a puppet regime under Japanese control. In 1940, Doihara backed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He was hanged eight years later.
Image: Gemeinfrei/Unbekannt
Iwane Matsui
Matsui was accused of being involved in the 1937 Nanjing massacre in which an estimated 300,000 people were killed within a week. Nowadays, historians believe that the decision for the carnage was taken by the imperial family. The family, however, was never charged. A tribunal convicted Matsui of being a "Class B" war criminal. He was executed in 1948.
Image: Gemeinfrei
Heitaro Kimura
In 1939, Kimura waged a brutal war against the armed forces of China's Communist Party in the eastern part of the country. He set up concentration camps in which thousands died. In 1944, he was sent to Burma where he became army commander. He used prisoners of war to build a 415-kilometer-long railway connecting Thailand to Burma. Some 13,000 allied soldiers died. He was hanged in 1948.
Image: Gemeinfrei
Koki Hirota
Hirota was Japan's prime minister until February 1937 and later became foreign minister. He was charged with sanctioning the Nanjing massacre. Hirota (seen here in the middle) was the only civilian politician to be hanged in 1948.
Image: Keystone/Getty Images
Seishiro Itagaki
On September 18, 1931, Itagaki orchestrated a bomb attack on a railway in the northeastern region of Manchuria. Japan used this as a pretext to declare war on China. Itagaki later fought in North Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia until he surrendered in 1945. He was found guilty of escalating the war and was hanged in 1948.
Image: Gemeinfrei
Akira Muto
Ever since the outbreak of the war, Muto fought in China and was later found guilty of taking part in several atrocities, including the Nanjing massacre. According to the judges, Muto not only let prisoners of war starve but also "tortured and murdered" them.
Image: Gemeinfrei
Yosuke Matsuoka
Under his leadership, Japan left the League of Nations after some member states accused Japan of starting the war against China. Matsuoka was foreign minister between 1940 and 1941 and was one of the co-signers of the Tripartite Pact between Japan, Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. In 1946, he died of tuberculosis before being sentenced.
Image: Gemeinfrei/Japanese book Ningen Matsuoka no Zenbo
Osami Nagano
Marshal Admiral Osami Nagano, a supporter of the Japanese attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, ordered the attack on December 7, 1941. Twelve US warships either sunk or were badly damaged and more than 2,400 American soldiers were killed. Nagano died of pneumonia in 1946 before he could be tried in the Tokyo war crimes trials.
Image: Gemeinfrei
Toshio Shiratori
He was the head of Japanese propaganda. Shiratori was Japan's ambassador to Italy and pushed for an alliance between his country, Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. As an advisor to the foreign minister, he disseminated his fascist ideals both "on and off the stage." Toshio was sentenced to life in prison where he died in 1949.
Image: Gemeinfrei
Kiichiro Hiranuma
Hiranuma was Japan's prime minister from January to August 1939. During this time Japan strengthened its ties with Germany and Italy. Kiichiro was later considered to be one of Emperor Hirohito's closest advisors. He was sentenced to life in prison, but was released in 1952. He died that same year.
Image: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Kuniaki Koiso
Koiso was Japan's prime minister between July 1944 and April 1945, and served in China and North Korea. He was sentenced to life in prison although the tribunal was of the view he didn't take direct part in the atrocities committed by the military. The judges, however, ruled that he had been in a position to put a stop to them. Koiso died of cancer in 1950 while serving his jail sentence.
Image: Keystone/Getty Images
Yoshijiro Umezu
From 1939 to 1945, Umezu was in command of the 700,000-strong Guandong Army based in northeastern China. Although he opposed a Japanese surrender shortly before the end of the war, Umezu (seen here in uniform in the first row) was ordered by the emperor to sign the document of unconditional surrender on September 2, 1945. He was sentenced to life in prison and died in jail in 1949.
Image: AP
Shigenori Togo
Togo was an expert on Germany. He spoke German, studied German philology, married a German and was appointed Japan's ambassador to Germany in 1937. He was appointed foreign minister in 1941 and again in 1945, when he advised the Japanese government to surrender. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison and died in 1950 while in jail.
