Japan ministers visit Yasukuni Shrine on war anniversary, China lodges formal protest

Shrine visits on 81st surrender anniversary

Four Japanese cabinet ministers visited Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine on Saturday, 15 August, the 81st anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II. Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, economic security minister Kimi Onoda, minister of state for Okinawa and Northern Territories affairs Hitoshi Kikawada, and economic and fiscal policy minister Minoru Kiuchi all paid their respects at the shrine. The shrine honors 2.5 million Japanese war dead, including 14 military and state leaders convicted as Class-A war criminals from the wartime era. Koizumi became the first defense minister to visit on the war anniversary since Minoru Kihara in 2024. Koizumi has been a regular visitor to the controversial shrine, which also commemorates World War II criminals. Neither he nor Onoda responded to reporters' questions on Saturday. The visits come at a time of simmering tensions with China and South Korea, and the move could further inflame relations with both neighbors.

Takaichi's abstention and offering

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi did not visit the shrine, once again abstaining from a practice she had followed before taking office last October. Takaichi, described as a leading conservative hawk in the LDP, had visited during shrine festivals while serving in the cabinet. She skipped visits during the shrine's autumn and spring festivals, apparently to avoid fueling criticism from China and South Korea. Instead, Takaichi sent a cash offering from her own money in her capacity as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). LDP Secretary-General Shunichi Suzuki delivered the offering and visited the shrine alongside Yasutoshi Nishimura, the party's election campaign chief.

Suzuki told reporters that he respected the prime minister's thoughts about the enshrined souls of soldiers and others. He said his visit with Nishimura demonstrated the party's policy of "continuing visits to Yasukuni Shrine." Kikawada and Kiuchi separately told reporters they prayed for peace for the souls.

Lawmakers and party leaders

A suprapartisan group of about 90 lawmakers, including members of the LDP and its coalition partner the Japan Innovation Party, visited the shrine together on the same day. Other individual visitors included LDP Executive Acting Secretary-General Koichi Hagiuda, Sanseito party leader Sohei Kamiya, and Conservative Party of Japan head Naoki Hyakuta.

China's formal protest

China lodged a formal protest with Japan after the visits and Takaichi's offering. Beijing "strongly condemns" the moves, according to a statement from its government. China and South Korea view the shrine as a symbol of Japan's past militarism and accuse Tokyo of glossing over its wartime past and damaging diplomatic relations with such visits. The shrine has long been a source of tension between Tokyo and its Asian neighbors, with both Beijing and Seoul criticizing Japanese politicians' visits as showing a lack of remorse over Japan's wartime atrocities.

Historical pattern of visits

No sitting Japanese prime minister has visited Yasukuni since Shinzo Abe in December 2013, a visit criticized at the time by US President Barack Obama. The last prime minister to visit on the surrender anniversary was Junichiro Koizumi, father of the current defense minister, in 2006. Before taking office, Takaichi had visited the shrine on these occasions, including while serving in the cabinet.