Unleashed Women Ministers

Ignoring impact on diplomatic relationship with neighbor countries, three Ministers in Shinzo Abe Cabinet visited to Yasukuni Shrine, taking opportunity of Fall Festival on Saturday. Strangely enough, all those ministers were woman. Vigorous woman project, which Abe took as a policy for reshuffled cabinet starting September, turned out to be encouraging women to be active on conservative agenda. Before women are contributing further growth of Japanese economy, they may undermine actual economy by worsening relationship with major economies around Japan.

Three female ministers were Sanae Takaichi, Minister of Interior, Eriko Yamatani, Minister on Abduction Issue, and Haruko Arimura, Minister on Vigorous Woman. Takaichi explained her visit as thanking and commemorating for the people devoted their lives for national policy and existence of the country. “I thanked for the devotion of their precious lives,” also told Yamatani. Arimura emphasized, “It is the people who determine how they face the ones who went to battlefield and lost their lives.”

All of them asserted that it would not be an issue of diplomacy. Takaichi told that dedicating true wishes should be done by personal sentiment and not be a matter of diplomacy. Unfortunately for Takaichi and other ministers, visiting Yasukuni had become a diplomatic and political problem before she did that. It was not about her lack of knowledge, but intensive ignorance of history.

Abe said to have allowed them to visit Yasukuni with an assessment that China would not be against it so much. Not visiting Yasukuni, he paid respect to the Shrine by sending ritual goods for Fall Festival. Abe seemed to have thought that those activities by him and his ministers would not stimulate Xi Jinping administration.

Against his expectation, Chinese responded to Abe’s activity, criticizing it as “Cannot help regret. Japanese political leaders need to recognize it as a deed denying international order.” Chinese government requested Japanese Embassy in Beijing not to make further visit to Yasukuni other than three ministers. Chinese media denounced the visit by ministers as adoring former aggressors or disturbing improvement of bilateral relationship.

It was possible that both governments had shared a recognition not to make the relationship worse, even if ministers would visit Yasukuni. The disturbing thing was a fact that those female ministers had firmly been controlled by conservative powers. There will be no progress after the meeting of both top leaders next month in this sober situation between Japan and China.