Routine Trouble over Visiting Shrine

Two of the Cabinet members visited Yasukuni Shrine during its fall festival. Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, refrained from visiting there with consideration not to bring negative impact on diplomacy. However, China and South Korea responded with frustration to Abe. It is not fulfilling Japan’s national interest for these revisionist leaders to reiterate such messy arguments every spring, summer and fall.

In the fall festival of Yasukuni Shirine, where Class A war criminals of the World War II are enshrined, Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, Yoshitaka Shindo, and Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission, Keiji Furuya, visited to pray for war victims. As he did in the spring festival, Abe offered ritual gift of holy wood to the shrine, instead of visiting there. Other ministers who visited in the spring festival, Minister of Finance, Taro Aso, and Minister in Charge of Administrative Reform, Tomomi Inada, did not appear in the fall festival.

From the beginning of his second term as the prime minister, Abe kept on saying that it had been his ultimate regret not to have visited the shrine as the premier. He seemed to be speaking for his conservative political basis represented by the families of war victims.

Having said that, the reason why he avoided visiting the shrine in the spring, on war-end memorial day of August 15^th and in the fall would be pressure from the United States. While U.S. supported Japan’s administration in Senkaku Islands, it required Japan to solve that problem in a peaceful and diplomatic manner without resorting in unilateral exercise of power or intimidation. The spokeswoman for U.S. Department of State, Jen Psaki, stressed that it was important for Japan to continue to work with their neighbors and to address concerns about history in an amicable way in her press conference.

The response from China and South Korea was something within expectation. “We demand Japan to deal related issues in an appropriate way,” told vice-spokesman for Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China about Abe’s submission of ritual goods. South Korean Foreign Ministry’s spokesman delivered a comment that expressed deep concern and regret. However, those reactions were on the same level of resistance at the time of this spring and summer.

But, as long as Abe is keeping his stance that he seeks regaining honor of war victims and revising post-war history, neighbor countries would be frustrated with it and keep on resisting against Japanese leadership. Whatever the personal belief would be, it is one of the most important responsibilities for a leader not to escalate existing instability with the neighbor countries.