Japanese Lawmakers' Visit to Controversial Shrine Draws Criticism from South Korea, China
About 100 Japanese lawmakers Tuesday visited a controversial Tokyo shrine that honors its war dead, drawing criticism from South Korea and China.
The visit to the Yasukuni Shrine came 80 years after Japan’s surprise attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The lawmakers, members of several political parties, were accompanied by nine vice ministers and aides in Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s conservative governing party.
The shrine is viewed by South Korea and China as a representation of Japan’s past military aggression because it pays tribute to its 2.5 million war dead, including 14 Japanese World War II leaders convicted as war criminals.
The group of lawmakers traditionally visits the shrine for its spring and autumn festivals and for the August 15 anniversary of Japan's surrender, but postponed visits since October 2019 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry expressed in a statement "deep regret and concern for the visit to Yasukuni Shrine, which beautifies the colonial invasion and war of aggression.”
"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 statement said.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the visit was a “deliberate move and provocation” that “again shows Japan’s wrong attitude towards the history of aggression.”
Kishida, who became prime minister in October, followed previous Japanese leaders who refrained from visiting in person during the festivals or on the anniversary of Japan's surrender to avoid angering China or South Korea, as did a visit by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2013.
Hidehisa Otsuji, a senior member of Kishida’s party, said the group prayed during Tuesday’s visit to the spirits of the war dead to protect Japan from the coronavirus pandemic.
