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16058
Sat, 08/16/2008 - 09:09
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https://oananews.org//node/16058
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Fukuda opts to shun Yasukuni Shrine, 3 ministers visit
TOKYO, Aug. 16 Kyodo - Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda shunned Tokyo's war-related Yasukuni Shrine on Friday, the 63rd anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, to avoid rekindling a row with Japan's Asian neighbors.
Three of his Cabinet ministers -- Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Seiichi Ota, Justice Minister Okiharu Yasuoka and Seiko Noda, state minister in charge of consumer affairs -- however, had paid separate visits to the shrine by the end of the day, but they refrained from stating that their visits were ''official.'' Fukuda, who had earlier indicated that he would not visit the controversial shrine, instead visited Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery to lay flowers. The remains of unknown soldiers and civilians who died overseas during the war areinterred at the cemetery, which is located near Yasukuni.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura and Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura, along with the other ministers of Fukuda's 17-member Cabinet, also stayed away from what is widely seen in Asia as a symbol of Japan's militaristpast.
Farm minister Ota said after his visit, ''I visited the shrine as I hope that those who gave their lives in past wars will rest in peace.'' The shrine honors the war dead along with Japanese Class-A war criminals. Ota described his visit as ''not official.'' Consumer affairs minister Noda told reporters that her visit ''should be considered (as that of) a private individual'' but said she had signed the shrine's visitor register as ''state minister.'' Asked by a reporter if she had any qualms about visiting when Fukuda had opted not to, she replied, ''Why?'' ''It would be strange if the ideas of the prime minister and myself were alwaysthe same,'' she said.
Justice Minister Yasuoka, who said earlier he would not visit the shrine in an official capacity, was among a group of around 50 lawmakers to offer prayers there. The group included Makoto Koga, chief of the Liberal Democratic Party'selection strategy council.
Japan's ties with neighboring countries, particularly China and South Korea, became strained after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi repeatedly visited theshrine while in office.
China and South Korea say that visits to the shrine by Japanese leaders revive memories of Japanese militarism and suffering under Japanese colonial rulebefore and during World War II.
Both Koizumi and his successor, Shinzo Abe, visited the shrine on Friday morning.
In 2006, Koizumi visited Yaukuni on the anniversary of Japan's wartime defeat, becoming the first incumbent prime minister to do so since Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone in 1985, triggering an outcry from neighboring countries thathad been invaded and occupied by Japan before and during the war.
Abe chose not to visit the shrine on last year's anniversary, when he was still in office, due to concerns about a potential backlash from China and South Korea. The only Cabinet minister to visit the shrine that day was SanaeTakaichi, state minister in charge of Okinawa and Northern Territories issues.
Foreign Minister Komura said at a press conference, ''I will not visit Yasukuni while I serve as foreign minister.'' Chief Cabinet Secretary Machimura said at a regular press conference, ''I have heard that some ministers are visiting Yasukuni in a private capacity and it depends on the insight of each minister.'' Friday's anniversary was the first since Fukuda took office last Septemberafter his predecessor, Abe, abruptly quit citing health reasons.
Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara also offered prayers at the shrine in the afternoon. He told reporters outside the main complex that he prayed to the war dead so that ''Japan won't come to an end.'' The shrine was packed with people, including survivors of the war and familiesof war dead, and they formed long lines on the main alley throughout the day.
But visitor numbers appeared lower than in recent years.
Men wearing what appeared to be nationalist uniforms typically seen in Japan and those bearing ''Rising Sun'' flags were also seen at the shrine. The shrine's war memorial museum filled with wartime artifacts also attracted manyvisitors.
The mercury rose to a high of 34.9 C in central Tokyo on Friday.
Hisashi Sato, 86, a former soldier from Ibaraki Prefecture who returned from China after World War II, paid an annual visit to offer his respects to hisbrother and many of his friends who died in the war.
On Fukuda's absence, Sato said, ''For us, it's sad. I hope he does what he has to do. Mr. Koizumi was upstanding.'' Meanwhile, at the government's annual ceremony to mark the anniversary, Fukuda showed deep remorse for Japan's wartime aggression against other Asiancountries while offering his condolences to those who died in the war.
''The way to pay tribute to the war dead is for us to face the past humbly and to hand down the historical facts to the future without allowing the lessonsfrom the miserable war fade away,'' he told around 4,700 attendees.
House of Representatives Speaker Yohei Kono urged the government to consider ''establishing a nonreligious memorial at which all people could commemorate (the war dead) together'' as unsolved historical problems still triggerfriction between Japan and its neighbors.
Referring to territorial disputes between Japan and other nations, Kono said atthe ceremony that the countries should try to resolve them through dialogue.
''I pledge, in front of the souls of the war dead, to realize a world free of war and nuclear weapons, based on the principles of the war-renouncing Japanese Constitution, which is managed through international concord, not through retaliation and threat, and which respects liberty and human rights,'' Konosaid.
In December 2002, a government advisory panel submitted a report to Fukuda, who was chief Cabinet secretary at the time, proposing the construction of a permanent, nonreligious memorial given the anger of neighboring countries overKoizumi's visits to Yasukuni.
At Friday's press briefing, Machimura suggested that the government should not lead the debate on the proposal, saying, ''We need to find out what the Japanese people think about it...I do not think the time to take action (on the issue) has come.'' Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko also attended the ceremony. ''I strongly hope that the horrors of war will not be repeated...and I pray for world peace as well as the further development of our country,'' the emperor said in hisspeech.
==Kyodo
Three of his Cabinet ministers -- Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Seiichi Ota, Justice Minister Okiharu Yasuoka and Seiko Noda, state minister in charge of consumer affairs -- however, had paid separate visits to the shrine by the end of the day, but they refrained from stating that their visits were ''official.'' Fukuda, who had earlier indicated that he would not visit the controversial shrine, instead visited Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery to lay flowers. The remains of unknown soldiers and civilians who died overseas during the war areinterred at the cemetery, which is located near Yasukuni.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura and Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura, along with the other ministers of Fukuda's 17-member Cabinet, also stayed away from what is widely seen in Asia as a symbol of Japan's militaristpast.
Farm minister Ota said after his visit, ''I visited the shrine as I hope that those who gave their lives in past wars will rest in peace.'' The shrine honors the war dead along with Japanese Class-A war criminals. Ota described his visit as ''not official.'' Consumer affairs minister Noda told reporters that her visit ''should be considered (as that of) a private individual'' but said she had signed the shrine's visitor register as ''state minister.'' Asked by a reporter if she had any qualms about visiting when Fukuda had opted not to, she replied, ''Why?'' ''It would be strange if the ideas of the prime minister and myself were alwaysthe same,'' she said.
Justice Minister Yasuoka, who said earlier he would not visit the shrine in an official capacity, was among a group of around 50 lawmakers to offer prayers there. The group included Makoto Koga, chief of the Liberal Democratic Party'selection strategy council.
Japan's ties with neighboring countries, particularly China and South Korea, became strained after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi repeatedly visited theshrine while in office.
China and South Korea say that visits to the shrine by Japanese leaders revive memories of Japanese militarism and suffering under Japanese colonial rulebefore and during World War II.
Both Koizumi and his successor, Shinzo Abe, visited the shrine on Friday morning.
In 2006, Koizumi visited Yaukuni on the anniversary of Japan's wartime defeat, becoming the first incumbent prime minister to do so since Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone in 1985, triggering an outcry from neighboring countries thathad been invaded and occupied by Japan before and during the war.
Abe chose not to visit the shrine on last year's anniversary, when he was still in office, due to concerns about a potential backlash from China and South Korea. The only Cabinet minister to visit the shrine that day was SanaeTakaichi, state minister in charge of Okinawa and Northern Territories issues.
Foreign Minister Komura said at a press conference, ''I will not visit Yasukuni while I serve as foreign minister.'' Chief Cabinet Secretary Machimura said at a regular press conference, ''I have heard that some ministers are visiting Yasukuni in a private capacity and it depends on the insight of each minister.'' Friday's anniversary was the first since Fukuda took office last Septemberafter his predecessor, Abe, abruptly quit citing health reasons.
Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara also offered prayers at the shrine in the afternoon. He told reporters outside the main complex that he prayed to the war dead so that ''Japan won't come to an end.'' The shrine was packed with people, including survivors of the war and familiesof war dead, and they formed long lines on the main alley throughout the day.
But visitor numbers appeared lower than in recent years.
Men wearing what appeared to be nationalist uniforms typically seen in Japan and those bearing ''Rising Sun'' flags were also seen at the shrine. The shrine's war memorial museum filled with wartime artifacts also attracted manyvisitors.
The mercury rose to a high of 34.9 C in central Tokyo on Friday.
Hisashi Sato, 86, a former soldier from Ibaraki Prefecture who returned from China after World War II, paid an annual visit to offer his respects to hisbrother and many of his friends who died in the war.
On Fukuda's absence, Sato said, ''For us, it's sad. I hope he does what he has to do. Mr. Koizumi was upstanding.'' Meanwhile, at the government's annual ceremony to mark the anniversary, Fukuda showed deep remorse for Japan's wartime aggression against other Asiancountries while offering his condolences to those who died in the war.
''The way to pay tribute to the war dead is for us to face the past humbly and to hand down the historical facts to the future without allowing the lessonsfrom the miserable war fade away,'' he told around 4,700 attendees.
House of Representatives Speaker Yohei Kono urged the government to consider ''establishing a nonreligious memorial at which all people could commemorate (the war dead) together'' as unsolved historical problems still triggerfriction between Japan and its neighbors.
Referring to territorial disputes between Japan and other nations, Kono said atthe ceremony that the countries should try to resolve them through dialogue.
''I pledge, in front of the souls of the war dead, to realize a world free of war and nuclear weapons, based on the principles of the war-renouncing Japanese Constitution, which is managed through international concord, not through retaliation and threat, and which respects liberty and human rights,'' Konosaid.
In December 2002, a government advisory panel submitted a report to Fukuda, who was chief Cabinet secretary at the time, proposing the construction of a permanent, nonreligious memorial given the anger of neighboring countries overKoizumi's visits to Yasukuni.
At Friday's press briefing, Machimura suggested that the government should not lead the debate on the proposal, saying, ''We need to find out what the Japanese people think about it...I do not think the time to take action (on the issue) has come.'' Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko also attended the ceremony. ''I strongly hope that the horrors of war will not be repeated...and I pray for world peace as well as the further development of our country,'' the emperor said in hisspeech.
==Kyodo
