Japanese Shrine in Limelight Again

[Vikrant]

TOKYO—A Tokyo landmark dedicated to Japan's war dead that has become a perpetual sore in Japan's relations with its neighbors is again about to take center stage.

China and South Korea have long criticized Japanese leaders' visits to the Yasukuni Shrine as a display of insufficient remorse over the wartime history, and the shrine is under particularly close attention this year for the Aug. 15 anniversary of Japan's World War II surrender due to Tokyo's new hawkish government and heightened regional tensions.

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Japanese Shrine in Limelight Before Anniversary - WSJ.com

 

[Unkotare]

Every year the same thing. It's all about domestic politics inside Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, etc. and not really about international relations at all.

 

[Vikrant]

^ With China's increased provocation against Japan, I think it has gained potential to become an international issue because a growing number of Japanese population is beginning to identify it as symbol of their nationhood.

 

[Unkotare]

^ With China's increased provocation against Japan, I think it has gained potential to become an international issue because a growing number of Japanese population is beginning to identify it as symbol of their nationhood.

Not really "a growing number." It has always been a shrine to those who died in war (and not just WWII, of course)

 

[ThirdTerm]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t89KW7GAWUw]Japan and the ghosts of WWII: right-wing Japanese politicians visit controversial war dead shrine - YouTube[/ame]

Yasukuni was initially intended to commemorate soldiers who gave their lives for the Japanese Empire but later the shrine included all casualties of war such as factory workers. Those enshrined are all considered equal regardless of their sex or social standing including those who were convicted of war crimes. The controversial visits by right-wing politicians often stir up emotions in China and Korea but the shrine is a national war memorial similar to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in the US and it lists all the names of war dead from 1867 to 1945, which makes it a good place for Japanese visitors to recall the horrors of war such as Iwo Jima and Hiroshima.