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Kishida sends ritual offering to war-linked Yasukuni shrine
The "masakaki" tree offering was made under his name as prime minister to celebrate the shrine's biannual festival held in the spring and autumn.
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Japan's new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (front center) poses with members of his cabinet at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo on October 4, 2021.
(AFP/Stanislav Kogiku)
P
rime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday sent a ritual offering to Yasukuni, a Shinto shrine in Tokyo viewed as a symbol of Japan's past militarism by its Asian neighbors.
The "masakaki" tree offering was made under his name as prime minister to celebrate the shrine's biannual festival held in the spring and autumn.
Kishida, who became Japan's prime minister on Oct. 4, does not plan to visit the shrine during the two-day autumn festival that runs through Monday, according to people close to him.
But on Sunday his predecessor, Yoshihide Suga, visited Yasukuni, which honors convicted war criminals along with more than 2.4 million war dead. Past visits to the shrine by Japanese leaders and lawmakers have especially angered China and South Korea, where memories of Japan's wartime acts still rankle.
"I came here as a former prime minister," Suga told reporters.
Then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Yasukuni visit in December 2013, a year after the start of his second stint as prime minister, triggered a strong response from China and South Korea and also disappointed Japan's key ally the United States.
Abe's successor Suga during his one-year tenure from September last year did not visit the shrine and sent ritual offerings for the biannual festivals.
Suga had avoided visiting the shrine after 2012, when he became the Abe government's spokesman, and only sent ritual offerings when he became prime minister.
Visits to the shrine by government officials have angered countries that suffered at the hands of the Japanese military during World War II, particularly South Korea and China.
Kishida, who became Japan's prime minister on October 4, does not plan to visit the shrine during the two-day autumn festival that runs through Monday, Kyodo News reported, citing unnamed people close to him.
Kishida's decision to take the same approach comes at a politically delicate time in Japan. Less than two weeks since taking office, Kishida dissolved the lower house on Thursday for a general election at the end of this month.
Among his Cabinet members, health minister Shigeyuki Goto and Kenji Wakamiya, minister in charge of the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka, also separately sent tree offerings to the shrine.
The festivals normally run for three days, but, like last year's festivals, the autumn event has been shortened to two days as part of efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Also, as a precaution against the virus, a cross-party group of Japanese lawmakers who are supportive of visiting the shrine to pay respects to the country's war dead have decided to refrain from going there together for the autumn festival.
