4 Japan Ministers Visit Yasukuni Shrine on War Anniversary

Tokyo, Aug. 15 (Jiji Press)–Four Japanese ministers visited Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine on Saturday, the country’s 81st war-end anniversary, while Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi sent a cash offering to the war-linked shrine from her own money in her capacity as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. The four were Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, Hitoshi Kikawada, the minister of state for Okinawa and Northern Territories affairs, economic and fiscal policy minister Minoru Kiuchi, and economic security minister Kimi Onoda. LDP Secretary-General Shunichi Suzuki, who delivered Takaichi’s offering, also visited the shrine, along with Yasutoshi Nishimura, the party’s election campaign chief. Suzuki later told reporters that he respected the prime minister’s thoughts about the enshrined souls of soldiers and others. He also said that his visit with Nishimura demonstrated the party’s policy of “continuing visits to Yasukuni Shrine.” Kikawada and Kiuchi told reporters separately that they prayed for peace for the souls. Koizumi and Onoda did not respond to reporters. The day’s other visitors included LDP Executive Acting Secretary-General Koichi Hagiuda, Sanseito party leader Sohei Kamiya, and Conservative Party of Japan head Naoki Hyakuta. Takaichi, a leading conservative hawk in the LDP, skipped visiting the shrine during its festivals last autumn and this spring as well. Before taking office last October, she had visited there on these occasions, including while serving in the cabinet. As the shrine is viewed by China and South Korea as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism, Takaichi apparently intended to avoid fueling their criticism. Meanwhile, Koizumi became the first defense minister to visit the shrine on the war anniversary since Minoru Kihara in 2024. Also on Saturday, a suprapartisan group of about 90 lawmakers, including members of the LDP and its coalition party, the Japan Innovation Party, visited the shrine together. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]