Japan: A prominent Japanese peace advocate has opposed recent visits and ritual offerings by right-wing politicians to Yasukuni Shrine, which honours 14 convicted Class-A war criminals from World War II, describing the actions as “absurd and erroneous”.
According to Japanese media reports, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and several other senior officials, including Health, Labour and Welfare Minister Kenichiro Ueno, Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy Minoru Kiuchi, House of Representatives Speaker Eisuke Mori, and House of Councillors President Masakazu Sekiguchi, sent ritual offerings to the shrine on Saturday.
Kiuchi also personally visited the site, making him the first member of Takaichi’s cabinet reported to have done so during this year’s autumn festival.
In an interview with China Central Television (CCTV) in Tokyo, Takakage Fujita, secretary-general of the Association for Inheriting and Propagating the Murayama Statement, criticised the shrine for distorting Japan’s modern history.
“This is absolutely absurd. Yasukuni Shrine claims that the war was a 'just war'. It is a shrine that distorts Japan's modern history and upholds erroneous, foolish right-wing ideologies. It is inherently wrong for Japanese lawmakers to visit such a place. The shrine's ideology is completely at odds with the spirit of Japan's pacifist constitution. We firmly oppose Japanese politicians and the public visiting Yasukuni Shrine,” Fujita said. Fujita urged Japanese society to uphold the historical principles of the Murayama Statement.
On 15 August 1995, then Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama issued a statement endorsed by the Cabinet to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II.
The Murayama Statement acknowledged Japan’s wartime mistakes. It also expressed “deep remorse” and offered a “heartfelt apology”, using unprecedented language to address Japan’s wartime actions.
“The Murayama Statement addresses the true nature of that war and the severe damage it inflicted upon the Chinese and Asian people. It was an egregious war of aggression that must never be repeated. This is the fundamental spirit of the Murayama Statement. Therefore, Japanese politicians and top leaders must absolutely not visit the shrine that defends that war of aggression and falsely claims it was a 'just war',” Fujita said.
Fujita also warned against the current Japanese government’s approach to history education, stressing the need to convey historical facts to younger generations.
“The Murayama Statement is an official statement issued by the Japanese government in 1995, and it remains the official stance of the government to this day. However, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) authorities have consistently tried to avoid teaching the history of aggression to young Japanese people. In order to make this country more actively teach the truth of that war to the younger generation, there must be a shift in Japan's political direction,” Fujita said.
