Takaichi Skips Yasukuni on 81st Anniversary as LDP Secretary Delivers Offerings
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Aug 15
Takaichi Skips Yasukuni on 81st Anniversary as LDP Secretary Delivers Offerings
3 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Aug 15
Summary
Shunichi Suzuki said he prayed at Yasukuni on Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s behalf and delivered her cash offering, even as she stayed away from the shrine on Japan’s 81st surrender anniversary.
At Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan, Takaichi instead mourned victims in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Okinawa and overseas battlefields, saying Japan must never repeat the tragedy of war.
Shinjiro Koizumi, three other Cabinet ministers, three LDP executives and a nonpartisan group of dozens of lawmakers still visited the shrine Saturday, underscoring divisions in how leaders mark the date.
The balancing act reflects Tokyo’s sensitivity to China and South Korea, where Yasukuni visits remain a flashpoint because the shrine honors Japan’s war dead, including convicted war criminals.