From Chinese Press

Visiting Yasukuni Shrine or not serves as touchstone

(People's Daily Online)
Updated: 2010-08-18 16:02

August 15 marked the 65th anniversary of Japan's World War II surrender. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and all of his cabinet members reportedly did not visit Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine; vice-ministers and administrative officials of the incumbent Japanese government also did not visit the war shrine on Sunday.

This situation, which made Japan's ultraright forces depress or dishearten, has been rare or unprecedented for years, is by no means strange.

First of all, both social and political trends in Japan and overseas today are being "de-ultraright". Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made six pilgrimages to the Yasukuni Shrine during his tenure of office from 2001 to 2006, and seriously impaired Japan's relations with Asian neighbors and its global image. This led the whole Japanese society to remorse or introspect, and Japan's political ultraright tendency going to extremes has been resisted.

Since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came to power in September 2006, it has become a conventional practice for Japanese leaders not to pay respects to Yasukuni Jinjya and, since the cabinet of Yukio Hatoyama was formed in Sept. 2009, all of his cabinet members have not paid any homage to the war shrine.

Besides, principal members of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) were in firm opposition to Junichiro Koizumi's visit to the war shrine even when their party was a party in opposition. After former Prime Minister Koizumi paid homage to Yasujkuni Jinjya on August 15, 2006, Yukio Hatoyama, then as the secretary of DPJ, reprimanded his visit sternly from the perspective of facing up to the historical and national interests. Subsequently, the DPJ became the ruling party in late August that year instead of losing the ballot.