Cabinet members to skip controversial shrine visit

Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso and other cabinet members said yesterday they will not visit the warlinked Yasukuni shrine, viewed as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism by Asian neighbours, during an upcoming two-day spring festival.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, meanwhile, will make an “appropriate” decision on whether to visit the Shinto shrine in Tokyo for the festival starting today, the top government spokesman told a press conference.

During the shrine’s autumn festival held in October last year, neither Mr Suga nor any of his cabinet members visited Yasukuni, which honours convicted war criminals along with more than 2.4 million war dead.

Mr Suga, who took office in September last year, instead sent a ritual masakaki tree offering to the shrine in his capacity as prime minister to celebrate the biannual festival, following the example of his predecessor Shinzo Abe.

Past visits to the shrine by Japanese leaders and lawmakers have drawn criticism particularly from China and South Korea, where memories of Japan’s militarism run deep.

Olympic minister Tamayo Marukawa said yesterday she will not visit the Shinto shrine, while Taro Kono, the administrative and regulatory reform minister, also indicated he will refrain from visiting or sending a ritual offering.

Yasutoshi Nishimura, the minister in charge of the nation’s coronavirus response, said the same day, “As my head is occupied with coronavirus, I have yet to think about [the shrine visit]. I will deal with it appropriately.”

Land minister Kazuyoshi Akaba and Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa also said they will not visit the shrine.