From Chinese Press

Visiting Yasukuni Shrine or not serves as touchstone

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

Third, the Naoto Kan Cabinet has retained its consistency both in thought and actions on this issue. Upon his election as prime minister in June 2010, Naoto Kan said he would not visit the Yasukuni Shrine during his tenure. He told a press conference"… Belts to the Class A war criminals, the prime minister and officials visiting irregularities, he was not going to go in his term of office visits." In addition, all the ministers of Kan's Cabinet also vowed that they would not visit the war shrine.

The Naito Kan Cabinet members not to pay respect to the Yasukuni Shrine indicates the DJP's upright stance of facing up to history, and this is advantageous for Japan to forge cooperative ties with Asian neighbors in the years ahead. Meanwhile, it can also be seen that the trial or contest centered on the controversial Yasukuni Shrine has not come to an end.

Junichiro Koizumi, after leaving office, has not only continued persistently to pay homage to the Yasukuni Shrine himself, and his son was also caught up in the war shrine visit as a new member of the Japanese diet. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe still paid respects to the Yasukuni Shrine after his resignation in September 2007, and it indicated that his thought remained unchanged.

Meanwhile, Yasukuni Jinjya has been utilized by Japan's ultraright forces to display their own existence, to demonstrate to Asian neighbors and to challenge the world axiom and the universal value. Japan's ultraright forces invited Lee Teng-hui, chief representative of the Taiwan Independence force to visit Yasukuni Shrine in July 2006 and, in this August, leaders of the French National Front and other European right wing forces were also invited to visit the war shrine.

People have hardly realized that Japan's ultraright forces have another goal in backing up the war shrine homage paying. That is to make its self-defense force an armed force capable to go to war. Toshio Tamogami, former chief of staff of Japan's Air Self-Defence Force (ASDF), also sticks to this viewpoint. However, they have totally forgotten that Japan's militarism had suffered an outright, crushing defeat when taking the Yasukuni Shrine as a spiritual prop in launching the war of aggression.

Therefore, people can witness that to visit or not to visit the Yasukuni Shrine serves as a touchstone. The visit to the war shrine is not only an internal issue of Japan, but a touchstone of the Japanese government's attitude towards its history.