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Japan PM Abe sends ritual offering to Yasukuni shrine for war dead

By Teppei Kasai and Chehui Peh

 

Visitors bow while paying tribute to the war dead at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Japan August 15, 2017, on the 72nd anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War Two. REUTERS/Issei Kato

 

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent a ritual offering to the Yasukuni shrine for war dead on Tuesday to mark the anniversary of Japan's World War Two surrender, but did not visit in person, an apparent effort to avoid upsetting China and South Korea.

 

Past visits by Japanese leaders to Yasukuni have outraged Beijing and Seoul because it honours 14 Japanese leaders convicted by an Allied tribunal as war criminals, along with other war dead.

 

Abe's move comes amid heightened tensions in Asia in the wake of North Korean missile tests, threats from Pyongyang to strike the area around the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam and U.S. President Donald Trump warning of "fire and fury" if North Korea threatened the United States.

 

Masahiko Shibayama, a lawmaker from Abe's Liberal Democratic Party, told reporters at the shrine that he had made an offering on Abe's behalf to express condolences to those who sacrificed their lives in the war and pray for peace.

 

Asked for specific words from Abe, Shibayama added: "He said he was sorry he couldn't go himself and asked me to go express these feelings in his place".

 

Abe has only visited the shrine in person once since taking office in 2012, an action that prompted criticism from key ally the United States as well as from Asian nations, but has sent offerings on August 15 and during Yasukuni's twice yearly festivals.

 

Dozens of Japanese lawmakers were expected to visit the shrine later in the day on the emotive anniversary of the end of World War Two, a move that frequently provokes criticism from other Asian nations.

 

The shrine was crowded from early morning with ordinary Japanese on an unusually cool and cloudy day for August.

 

"I came here to pay respects to some of my ancestors who fought in the war and are honoured here," said Takahashi Hajime, an office worker from Tokyo.

 

"I come here every year with my son and my wife, it is a family event for us."

 

Tensions in the region, with North Korea and the United States both threatening military action over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme, weighed on the minds of many at the shrine.

 

"We come here to pray for peace," said Koto Nakano, an 18-year-old student who came with members of his kickboxing gym.

 

"We do feel worried about the North Korean threats but merely feeling fear for the unknown is not enough, we need to also work towards sending the message of peace."

 

(Reporting by Teppei Kasai, writing by Elaine Lies; Editing by Michael Perry and Linda Sieg)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-08-15

[IAMHERE]

Is this like an American praying at a Confederate cemetery?

[ilostmypassword]

44 minutes ago, IAMHERE said:

Is this like an American praying at a Confederate cemetery?

Only if all Americans were Confederates.

[thaihome]

I visited the shrine some years ago. It is mostly about honoring all the Japanese war dead.

 

The main issue for me was the adjacent museum that shows the war as a defensive one and  extremely glossed over the Japanese invasion of China and atrocities committed there. As best I can remember the invasion was refered to as "The China Incident " or some similar.

 

 There is little doubt that Japan has not come to terms with their actions in WWII and tends to just not discuss it. The upcoming proposal by Abe to increase military spending and give Japan significant offensive weaponry will bring the issue to front again. There is a very strong "never again" feeling, though as I said, without fully admitting what happened. 

 

Abe does need the hard rightist for his coalition,  these are people that think Japan did nothing wrong and was drawn into a defensive war ( as portrayed at the shrine) by the actions of the US and UK. A similar depiction to the confederate "Lost Cause".

 

TH