Japan PM decides not to visit controversial war shrine
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has offered a symbolic gift to a controversial war shrine in the capital, Tokyo, but stopped short of visiting it in person.
An official with Yasukuni war shrine confirmed on Tuesday that Abe donated a “sacred masakaki tree” to the temple commemorating the country’s war victims, including some senior military and political figures convicted of serious crimes in the wake of Japan’s World War II defeat.
Visits to the shrine by Japanese officials anger neighboring countries, especially China and South Korea, which see the move as a symbol of Japan’s lack of penitence.
Abe’s decision not to visit the shrine is seen as a sign that the Japanese premier does not intend to spark fury in Asia ahead of his trip to Indonesia, where he will attend the Asian-African Summit.
On December 26, 2014, Abe made his first visit to the shrine as prime minister; a move that angered China and South Korea, which saw the visit as a reminder of Japan’s “imperialist past and wartime aggression.”
Abe said late Monday that he may not apologize directly for Japan’s past aggression in an upcoming statement marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Beijing and Seoul say Tokyo does not fully accept its guilt during the war, insisting that it must stand with a landmark 1995 statement expressing regret over the atrocities.
Abe, however, said, “I don’t think I need to write it again.”
Japan occupied large parts of China and the Korean Peninsula during World War II.
DB/HJL/HMV
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