Japan Ruling Party Executive Visits Yasukuni Shrine; PM Takaichi Stays Away

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Japan ruling party executive Kobayashi visited the war-linked Yasukuni shrine on Saturday. This visit occurred as Japan marked the 81st anniversary of its World War II surrender. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, however, stayed away from Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, reportedly seeking to avoid further strains in relations with China and South Korea. Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, three other Cabinet ministers, and three executives from Takaichi’s governing Liberal Democratic Party visited the shrine earlier Saturday. A nonpartisan group of dozens of lawmakers also prayed there. China strongly protested over the Japanese ministers' visits to the Yasukuni shrine. The shrine commemorates over 2.4 million people who died in wars and became controversial after enshrining 14 convicted World War II Japanese war criminals. China and South Korea assert that visits by Japanese officials to the shrine demonstrate a lack of remorse over Japan’s wartime atrocities. Japan invaded and occupied large parts of Asia before and during World War II, committing atrocities that included mass killings, forced labor, and the sexual enslavement of women. In her speech at Nippon Budokan, located near Yasukuni, Prime Minister Takaichi mourned the victims of major devastation in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Okinawa, as well as those who perished in overseas battlefronts. She thanked them for their sacrifice as the foundation of Japan’s peace and prosperity today. Takaichi stated that "Japan, since the end of the war, has consistently contributed to global peace and prosperity. We will never let the tragedy of the war be repeated." She did not mention Japan’s wartime past in Asia or express remorse for it in her address. Takaichi was a regular visitor to the shrine before becoming Japan's prime minister in October 2025.

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