Japan cabinet minister visits Yasukuni Shrine in person as China and South Korea condemn

Japan’s Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy, Minoru Kiuchi, visited Yasukuni Shrine in person on Saturday, the first minister of Sanae Takaichi’s cabinet to do so since the three-day autumn festival began on 17 October.

Kiuchi told reporters: “I conveyed my condolences and respect to the spirits who sacrificed their precious lives for their homeland,” adding: “I renewed my resolve never to go to war again.” He said he paid the tamagushi-ryo, a monetary offering, from his own pocket.

The visit is distinct from Takaichi’s own action: she presented a ritual offering — a masakaki potted plant — in her capacity as prime minister, but refrained from visiting in person. Health Minister Kenichiro Ueno also made an offering.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry expressed “deep disappointment and regret”. The Chinese Embassy in Tokyo issued a formal statement calling the visits “an affront to historical justice and a challenge to the postwar international order”, and said the Takaichi administration “cannot conceal its intention to cover up its war guilt, distort historical facts and accelerate rearmament.”

Yasukuni Shrine in central Tokyo honours 2.46 million war dead, including 14 convicted Class-A war criminals from the Second World War. The last sitting prime minister to visit in person was Shinzo Abe in December 2013.

Cross-party lawmakers belonging to the Association of Diet Members Who Visit Yasukuni Shrine Together are scheduled to make a group visit on 19 October, the festival’s final day.

Sources: Financial News Korea, TVB News via Kyodo, CGTN.