TOKYO, April 22 (Xinhua) -- More than 100 Japanese government officials and lawmakers on Wednesday worshiped the notorious Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, a symbol of Japanese militarism and wartime aggression, on the occasion of its spring festival.
The visits came a day after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi sent a ritual "masakaki" tree offering in her capacity as prime minister to the controversial shrine that honors 14 convicted Class-A Japanese war criminals from World War II alongside the war dead.
On Wednesday morning, the second day of the shrine's three-day ceremony, Haruko Arimura, chairperson of the General Council of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), visited the war-linked shrine and made a monetary offering on behalf of Takaichi in her capacity as LDP president.
Minoru Kiuchi, Japan's minister of state for economic and fiscal policy, also visited the shrine on the same day, becoming the first member of Takaichi's cabinet to do so while a cross-party group of over 120 Japanese lawmakers paid a collective visit.
The controversial moves drew widespread criticism in Japan.
Magosaki Ukeru, a former Japanese foreign ministry official, said to Xinhua that given the enshrinement of Class-A war criminals in the Yasukuni Shrine, it is absolutely inappropriate for Japanese government officials and lawmakers to participate in such visits.
The behavior, he said, not only raises serious concerns among neighboring countries such as China, but also runs counter to commitments Japan has made to the international community.
Takakage Fujita, secretary-general of the Association for Inheriting and Propagating the Murayama Statement, told Xinhua that Takaichi had long visited Yasukuni Shrine before taking office and has maintained that stance after becoming prime minister by making ritual and monetary offerings, which he described as unacceptable.
Fujita argued that such practices fail to face history squarely and have been an obstacle to improving Japan's relations with neighboring countries.
"As Japanese citizens, we must urge politicians to correct this wrong direction as soon as possible," he said.
Atsushi Koketsu, professor emeritus at Yamaguchi University in Japan, said Takaichi has long harbored a particular "zeal" for Yasukuni Shrine. The large collective visit to the shrine by lawmakers, he noted, reflects, to some extent, a political climate of aligning with Takaichi's position.
He warned that this trend, to a certain degree, points to a growing tendency toward the strengthening of dangerous militarist thinking in Japan, which is undoubtedly provocative to countries that suffered from Japanese aggression, such as China and South Korea.
Responding to the Japanese politicians' visits to the notorious Yasukuni Shrine, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the negative moves constitute a blatant provocation against international justice and an affront to human conscience, adding China is strongly indignant over and deplores such practices.
For a long time, visits and ritual offerings made by Japanese officials to the controversial shrine have consistently sparked criticism and opposition both at home and abroad, hurting the feelings of the people of China, South Korea, and other countries brutalized by Japan during the war. ■
