Abe stokes embers of Japanese militarism as nation goes to polls
SHINZO ABE, Japan’s prime minister, promised yesterday to step up pressure on North Korea to protect the Japanese people as he wrapped up an election campaign dominated by threats from Pyongyang.
He said: “We are the ones who can defend people’s lives, protect our happy way of life, and open the future for our children and our nation.”
Mr Abe may be regarded as a divisive leader but his calculated gamble of calling an early snap election appears to be paying off. The latest polls predict a landslide victory for his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), helped by the North Korean threat fuelling an underlying conservatism among voters.
As Japan prepares to go to the polls in today’s general elections, Mr Abe is determined to rewrite the nation’s pacifist postwar constitution against an uneasy backdrop of growing instability on the Korean Peninsula.
In Tokyo, the Yasukuni Shrine has come to symbolise Mr Abe’s new tack. It is at this shrine that the memory of 2.4 million Japanese killed at war are honoured, including more than 1,000 convicted war criminals. Long regarded as a symbol of Japan’s wartime militarism, visits by Right-wing politicians prompted diplomatic spats with China and South Korea.
Articulating Japan’s changing attitudes is Hiroko Nishikawa, 43, dressed respectfully in top-to-toe black. “I am not sure about Abe as a leader,” she says. “He projects a strong position on issues but it doesn’t seem real. But I will vote LDP. I’m worried about North Korea. I think the constitution should be amended. It’s important Japan recognises the need to protect itself.”
Michiaki Okuyama, a professor at the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture in Aichi Prefecture, highlighted how North Korean instability was fuelling Japan’s nationalism – with Yasukuni Shrine a powerful tool in securing conservative votes.
“Regional instability is pushing voters – particularly the young - towards a growing sense of nationalism,” he said. “The growing power of China, unsta- ble relations with South Korea, the unpredictable future of North Korea and difficult negotiations with Russia – all are fueling nationalist sentiment.”
Mr Abe is aware of Yasukuni’s significance. Six days before the election, he sent a ritual offering of a sacred tree to the shrine for its autumn festival.
Chika Hiruma, 51, a sales manager, takes a short-cut through the grounds. “I do not support people who admire Yasukuni. This shrine is not about Shinto. The prime minister wants to take Japan back to what it was like before World War Two – his party is not liberal and it is not democratic.”