94 Japanese Diet Members Visit Yasukuni Shrine Collectively... One More Cabinet Minister Added

According to Kyodo News, 94 Japanese Diet members from both ruling and opposition parties collectively paid homage at Yasukuni Shrine, where Class A war criminals from the Pacific War are enshrined, on the 23rd.

According to the report, members of the cross-party group "Diet Members Visiting Yasukuni Shrine Together" visited Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on the morning of the day to mark the shrine's Spring Grand Festival (Reitaisai). They belong to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Nippon Ishin no Kai, and others. From the LDP, Hiroshi Moriyama, Chairman of the General Council, and Hiroshi Kajiyama, Acting Secretary-General, among others, participated in the visit.

Ichiro Aisawa, LDP member and vice chairman of the group, said at a press conference after the visit, "The majority of Japanese people were born in a new era after the war," adding, "We visited with the importance of engraving the misery of war and the preciousness of peace in our hearts and passing it on to future generations." They visit Yasukuni Shrine during both the spring and autumn Reitaisai festivals and also paid a collective visit during the autumn Reitaisai last October.

The 'Masakaki' offering dedicated in the name of 'Prime Minister Fumio Kishida' on the occasion of the Yasukuni Shrine's Spring Grand Festival (Reitaisai - major ritual).
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Among the cabinet ministers, Sanae Takaichi, Minister in charge of Economic Security, visited the shrine after noon on the day. With this, the number of ministers who have directly visited Yasukuni Shrine increased to two, following Yoshitaka Shindo, Minister for Economic Revitalization. On the day, Minister Takaichi said, "I paid my respects with a heart of reverence for the souls of those who died in the line of national duty."

Earlier, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida offered a sacred branch called "Masakaki" on the first day of the Spring Grand Festival on the 21st in the name of "Prime Minister Fumio Kishida." Since assuming office in 2021, Prime Minister Kishida has not visited Yasukuni Shrine directly but has been offering sacred branches.

The South Korean and Chinese governments protested Prime Minister Kishida's offering, and the Japanese government stated the day before that it is natural to show reverence to those who died for the country. Yasukuni Shrine is a facility commemorating the spirits of approximately 2,466,000 people who died in civil wars around the Meiji Restoration and numerous wars waged by Imperial Japan. It also enshrines 14 Class A war criminals from the Pacific War, including former Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, who was executed following the Far East International Military Tribunal (Tokyo Trials).