Takaichi May Skip Yasukuni Visit during Autumn Festival

Tokyo, Oct. 7 (Jiji Press)–Sanae Takaichi, the new leader of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, is considering skipping a visit to war-related Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo during its autumn festival Oct. 17-19, informed sources said Tuesday. Takaichi has visited the Shinto shrine during its spring and autumn festivals and on the Aug. 15 anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II, including when she was in ministerial posts. This time, however, she is apparently taking into account the impact of her possible visit to the shrine on Japan’s summit diplomacy from late this month and relations with Komeito, the LDP’s coalition partner, if she becomes Japan’s new prime minister, according to the sources. Komeito is wary of her Yasukuni visits. At a press conference held Saturday, just after she was elected LDP president the same day to succeed Shigeru Ishiba, also the country’s outgoing prime minister, Takaichi did not make a clear-cut comment on whether she would visit Yasukuni Shrine if she is elected prime minister. Instead, she said: “I’ll make a timely and appropriate decision on how to pay my respects to the war dead. It should never be made into a diplomatic issue.” A series of summits related to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are set to kick off Oct. 26 in Malaysia. A summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum is slated to take place in South Korea from Oct. 31. Japan’s new prime minister, who will succeed Ishiba, is expected to attend these meetings. The Japanese government hopes to set up a bilateral summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the margin of the APEC summit. A meeting between the leaders of Japan and South Korea is also expected to be held during the summit meetings. U.S. President Donald Trump may visit Japan from Oct. 27. Takaichi apparently believes that if she visits Yasukuni Shrine, that could adversely affect the three-way cooperation among Japan, the United States and South Korea, which is considered important by Tokyo and Washington, according to the sources. Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Class-A war criminals among the war dead, is regarded as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism by other Asian countries, such as China and South Korea. Japan’s parliament is expected to be convened into an extraordinary session shortly to elect a new prime minister. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]