Is Japan’s Yasukuni Shrine a Symbol of War or Peace?

In late April, the controversial Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo held its annual three-day springtime festival. The festivities were attended by more than 90 politicians, who paid their respects to Japanese soldiers killed in World War II as well as Japan’s imperial wars in the 20th century.

The shrine has long been a source of unresolved regional tension stemming from imperial Japan’s invasions of South Korea, China, and other neighboring countries during the 20th century. Yasukuni Shrine was erected by the emperor in 1869 to honor the spirits of Japanese war dead; almost 2.5 million names are now inscribed there. But on its list of hallowed souls are 1,066 convicted war criminals, of which 12 were charged with class A crimes by an international tribunal in 1948.

Japan’s neighbors view the Shinto shrine as a symbol of Japan’s past military aggression and a glorified memorial for war criminals. When Japanese politicians engage with Yasukuni, it inevitably stirs up regional anger.

During the latest festival, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio sent a potted plant with a wooden plaque bearing his name and title. Kishida has made offerings to Yasukuni since taking office in 2021, following a precedent set by his predecessors, Suga Yoshihide and Abe Shinzo. (Abe infamously visited the shrine in person in December 2013, soon after taking over the premiership, and did so again just days after resigning from office in September 2020.)

South Korea protested against Kishida’s recent offering, calling it a “deep disappointment” and “deep regret” that leaders in Japan have dedicated offerings and made repeated visits to a shrine that glorifies Japan’s past aggression and war crimes. Seoul urged Japan to “confront history and show humble reflection and genuine remorse for the past through their actions.”

China also expressed strong opposition, calling attendance by Japanese lawakers at the festival a national insult to a former victimized country. The Chinese Embassy in Tokyo issued a statement that urged Japan to reflect on its history and reject militarism.

In 1981 a dedicated multipartisan group of Japanese lawmakers launched a caucus to make visits to Yasukuni Shrine to celebrate its annual spring and autumn festivals, as well as the anniversary of the end of war. The caucus, whose name is translated as the “Diet Members to Pray at Yasukuni Shrine,” is composed of some 120 lawmakers from the Liberal Democratic Party, the Constitutional Democratic Party, the Japan Restoration Party, and others. There are no members from the ruling party’s junior coalition partner Komeito, the Communist Party of Japan, leftist Reiwa Shinsengumi, or the Social Democratic Party. The April visit marked the second time the caucus has visited the shine as a group after attending the autumn festival last October.

The spring festival was attended by senior lawmakers such as Economic Revitalization Minister Shindo Yoshitaka and Economic Security Minister Takaichi Sanae. Regarding her visit, Takaichi told reporters, “I offered my sincere thanks to all the people who sacrificed their life for national policy.”

At a press conference after the festival, long-time LDP lawmaker Aisawa Ichiro said he hoped the group's attendance would draw attention to “the importance of conveying the tragedy of war and the preciousness of peace for future generations.”

Meanwhile, Kishida’s ritual offering was explained by Chief Cabinet Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa as a private offering and “not a matter for the government to express an opinion on.” Hayashi added that it was “natural for any country to pay respect to those who gave their lives to their country.” He said Japan was committed to strengthening relations with its neighbors China and South Korea.

Next year will mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. But Japan’s military expansion began at the end of the 19th century, with the first Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95, which ended in Japan’s control over Taiwan as well as the Liaodong Peninsula in northeastern China. Imperial Japan then fought a war with Russia in 1904 over territorial expansion in East Asia, followed by the emperor of Japan’s annexation of the Korean Peninsula between between 1910 and 1945 and the invasion of the Chinese province of Manchuria that sparked the Sino-Japanese war between 1931 to 1945. It is estimated that some 20 million people died in Asia as a result of the conflicts initiated by imperial Japan.

Yasukuni Shrine is supported by an association of families who lost loved ones up until World War II. The question of whether a prime minister should visit the shrine on important anniversaries became an international issue when then-Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro made regular visits during his term between 2001 and 2006.  He explained that his attendance was meant to “offer condolences, respect and gratitude” rather than glorify Japan’s military past.

The root of the Yasukuni issue lies in the presence of war criminals on its list of enshrined souls. But it’s not clear the controversy can be resolved by separating out the enshrinement of war criminals. For some bereaved families, the shrine is a place where their loved ones who died fighting are worshiped as gods, while others see it as an embodiment of a system that sent soldiers to perish in the name of the emperor.

The international trigger for outcry surrounding Yasukuni Shrine is the political undertone that commends imperial Japan’s war policy rather than an attitude of simply showing respect and working toward peace.