Abe Visits Yasukuni Shrine Twice Within a Month After Resignation... Japanese Government Says "Personal Matter" (Comprehensive)

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visiting Yasukuni Shrine last September [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Yasukuni Shrine on the 19th. This was his second visit since stepping down a month ago. The Japanese government explained that both Abe's visit and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's offering of tribute on the 17th were "matters on a personal level."

According to the private broadcaster Fuji News Network (FNN), former Prime Minister Abe visited Yasukuni Shrine to coincide with the autumn grand festival, Chukei Yataisai. After paying respects, he told reporters, "I visited to express my reverence for the spirits of the war dead." It is known that Abe wrote only his name, "Abe Shinzo," without any official title on the visitors' register.

This was Abe's second visit to Yasukuni Shrine since his resignation last month. He had previously visited the shrine just three days after stepping down, on the 19th of last month. During his second term in office, Abe visited Yasukuni Shrine once on December 26, 2013, but due to concerns about backlash from South Korea and China, he only offered tributes during the major spring and autumn festivals and on August 15, the day marking Japan's defeat in World War II.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga offered a tribute called "Masakaki," an evergreen tree, to Yasukuni Shrine on the first day of the Chukei Yataisai festival on the 17th, under the name "Prime Minister of the Cabinet." Additionally, Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Norihisa Tamura and Expo Minister Shinji Inoue sent offerings to Yasukuni Shrine during the festival period. However, it is reported that no other cabinet members visited the shrine during this time.

Regarding this, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said at a regular briefing that the government does not intervene in matters concerning individual religious freedom and understands Abe's visit as a personal act.

Kato also stated that Prime Minister Suga's offering was done as a private individual. He added, "Visiting or offering tributes is a matter of personal religious freedom, so the government does not see it as something to block or intervene in," and "I understand that the Masakaki offering was appropriately judged by the Prime Minister."

Regarding the nameplate bearing "Prime Minister of the Cabinet Yoshihide Suga" placed on the offering, Kato said, "Attaching a title is a common practice to indicate the individual holding that position," and "It is recognized as an offering made as a private individual." The governments of South Korea and China expressed regret and criticism through statements by their foreign ministry spokespeople, condemning Suga's offering as glorifying Japan's past aggressive wars.