Kishida Japanese Prime Minister Offers Tribute at Yasukuni Shrine... Lawmakers and Cabinet Members Also Pay Respects (Comprehensive)

On the 15th, the day of Japan's defeat in World War II, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, members of the National Diet, and cabinet ministers sent offerings or paid respects at Yasukuni Shrine, where Class A war criminals from World War II are enshrined.

Japanese Members of Parliament Visit Yasukuni Shrine in a Group [Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 15th, Japanese local media Kyodo News reported, citing a Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) official, that Prime Minister Kishida offered a tamagushi (a sakaki tree branch adorned with white paper strips) at Yasukuni Shrine in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. The offering was made under the name "LDP President Fumio Kishida."

Since taking office as prime minister in October 2021, Kishida has made offerings to Yasukuni Shrine in October 2021, April, August, and October of last year, and April of this year. However, he has never visited the shrine in person.

As in the previous year, three incumbent cabinet ministers visited Yasukuni Shrine on or just before the day of defeat this year. Sanae Takaichi, Minister in charge of Economic Security, visited Yasukuni Shrine on the day of defeat for the second consecutive year. Visits by incumbent cabinet ministers on Japan’s defeat day have continued for four consecutive years since 2020.

Members of the cross-party parliamentary group "Diet Members Who Visit Yasukuni Shrine Together" also paid respects at Yasukuni Shrine. Koichi Hagiuda, one of the four executive members of the ruling LDP, visited Yasukuni Shrine for the second consecutive year following last year. Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi also visited the shrine on this day.

Visiting or offering at Yasukuni Shrine is interpreted as an act endorsing Japan’s imperialist wars of aggression. Yasukuni Shrine enshrines the spirits of approximately 2,466,000 people who died in civil wars and wars of aggression in Japan since the Meiji Restoration. Nearly 90% of these are related to the Pacific War. Fourteen Class A war criminals, including former Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, who were executed following the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (Tokyo Trials), are also enshrined at Yasukuni Shrine.