[News Terms] Japanese Politician's Group Visit to Yasukuni Shrine...Protests from Korea and China

14 Class-A War Criminals of the Pacific War Also Enshrined... 'Unrepentant Japan'
Yoshida Shoin, Mentor of Ito Hirobumi and Advocate of Jeonghanron, Placed at the Top of the Memorial Tablet
Forced Enshrinement of Prince Yi U and 21,000 Koreans' Memorial Tablets

'Yasukuni Shrine (靖?神社)' is a facility that commemorates the spirits of approximately 2,466,000 people who died in the civil wars around the Meiji Restoration and numerous wars waged by Imperial Japan.

Among those enshrined are 14 Class-A war criminals from the Pacific War, including former Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, who were sentenced to death and executed at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (Tokyo Trials), conducted according to the Potsdam Declaration, which addressed the postwar order in Europe and the handling of Japan after World War II.

Members of the 'Group of Diet Members Visiting Yasukuni Shrine Together,' including Ichiro Aizawa of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (second from the left), are collectively visiting Yasukuni Shrine on the 21st.
[Photo by Tokyo Kyodo/ Yonhap News]

Because of this, when current Japanese prime ministers or politicians visit Yasukuni Shrine, it is interpreted as Japan not reflecting on its aggressive wars, causing backlash from neighboring countries and becoming a significant diplomatic issue.

Yasukuni Shrine is located north of the Imperial Palace in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, and is the largest shrine among the approximately 80,000 shrines across Japan. It was established shortly after the Meiji Restoration in 1868 to honor the souls of those who died fighting the shogunate forces, with a representative figure being Yoshida Sh?in.

Yoshida Sh?in was a Japanese militarist famous for "Sonn? J?i" (Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians) and "Seikanron" (the theory of conquering Korea), and he advocated the "Yamato-damashii" (大和魂, Japanese spirit). As a radical and extremist, he was arrested and executed at the young age of 29 for attempting to overthrow the Edo shogunate. Later, his top disciple, It? Hirobumi, who led the Meiji Restoration coup and came to power, collected his remains and enshrined them at Yasukuni Shrine.

Yasukuni Shrine was originally J?sh? Shrine, established by It? Hirobumi in Edo in 1868, and was renamed Yasukuni Shrine in 1879. In other words, Yasukuni Shrine was built by It? Hirobumi, who led the invasion of Joseon and was assassinated by patriot An Jung-geun, to honor his teacher Sh?in. Even today, the highest-ranking spirit tablet enshrined at Yasukuni Shrine bears the name Yoshida Sh?in.

An offering called "Masakaki," dedicated under the name of "Prime Minister Fumio Kishida" on the occasion of the Yasukuni Shrine's Spring Grand Festival (Reitaisai). Masakaki is a type of tree placed on both sides of the shrine altar.
[Photo by Tokyo Kyodo/Yonhap News]

Notably, Yasukuni Shrine forcibly enshrines Prince Yi U of the Korean Empire and 21,000 Koreans.

According to Kyodo News, 94 Japanese lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties collectively visited Yasukuni Shrine on the 23rd to pay respects. Members of the cross-party group "Lawmakers Who Visit Yasukuni Shrine Together" visited Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo that morning to commemorate the shrine's Spring Grand Festival (Reitaisai).

Prior to this, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida offered a tribute on the first day of the Spring Grand Festival on the 21st under the name "Prime Minister Fumio Kishida." The governments of South Korea and China protested Prime Minister Kishida's offering of tribute.