Japan PM donates to shrine linked to war criminals

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent a monetary offering to the notorious war-linked Yasukuni Shrine yesterday on the 72nd anniversary of Japan’s surrender which brought an end to World War II.

Two groups of politicians also visited the shrine yesterday.

Abe reportedly refrained from visiting the shrine in person to prevent further damage to Japan’s relationship with its closest neighbours at a time when Japan and the region is facing tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The Japanese leader, however, sent his special adviser, Masahiko Shibayama, to make the monetary donation by proxy to the shrine.

The donation was made in Abe’s capacity as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, not as the prime minister, but, also, not as a private citizen.

Shibayama said Abe had instructed him to pay a visit on his behalf and said that Abe “feels sorry for not being able to visit the shrine”.

Abe last visited Yasukuni Shrine in December 2013, which caused a backlash from Beijing and Seoul.

Visits and ritual offerings made by senior politicians to the shrine disregard the feelings of Japan’s closest neighbours, including South Korea and China, who suffered at the hands of the Imperial Army of Japan before, during and after World War II.

The shrine honours 14 war criminals among the war dead from World War II and is seen as a symbol of past Japanese militarism.

The shrine is run by a private foundation and the war criminals’ “souls” were enshrined there secretly in 1978, by the clandestine organisation. – Xinhua