New internal affairs minister says she will visit Yasukuni Shrine

September 6, 2014, TOKYO —

Japan’s new internal affairs minister said on Friday she intends to visit Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine although she did not address concern that her new position is likely to exacerbate neighboring countries’ anger over what they see as a symbol of militarism.

The shrine honors Japan’s war dead, including 14 leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal.

Neighboring countries which suffered under Japanese occupation during World War Two regard politicians’ visits to pay respects at the shrine as evidence of Japan’s failure to atone for its aggression.

“I’ve been visiting Yasukuni as one Japanese individual to offer my sincere appreciation to the spirits of war dead,” the new minister, Sanae Takaichi, told a group of reporters. “I intend to continue offering my sincere appreciation as one Japanese.”

Takaichi, who was appointed on Wednesday, belongs to a group of lawmakers advocating visits to the shrine which politicians typically visit on days such as Aug 15, the anniversary of Japan’s World War Two defeat.

Visits by cabinet ministers especially anger China and South Korea, where memories of Japan’s wartime aggression are raw.

The new defense minister, Akinori Eto, also a member of the lawmakers’ group that advocates visiting the shrine, told a news conference on Wednesday when asked about the shrine he did not want to cause trouble for the government, indicating a more cautious stance.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe paid his respects at the shrine in December, aggravating ties with China and South Korea, with which relations had already been strained over territorial disputes.

 Source: Japan Today