Shrine visits offensive

The Yasukuni Shrine is notorious as a symbol of Japan's militarist past.

Japanese politicians know this. Not least because each time they go there, they are angrily condemned by those countries that suffered from Japan's brutal imperialism.

The latest visits have not only demonstrated Tokyo's lack of remorse for its militaristic past, they have also sent a defiant message that Japan does not care how international law works or how its neighbors feel.