English: Lanterns at the Mitama festival, Yasukuni Shrine (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Yasukuni Shrine Tori Gate Tokyo, Japan (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: Bronze statue of a dog at Yasukuni Shrine, commemorating the dogs who died in WWII. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The honden at Yasukuni shrine (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This is a MUST READ article in China’s People’s Daily Online. Check it out!
China strongly condemns Japan over shrine visit – People’s Daily Online.
A few days ago, I reblogged Gideon Rachman‘s FT article entitled “A gaffe-prone Japan is a danger to peace in Asia – Gideon Rachman. Looking at my blog stats this morning, I was surprised to see that the reblog of the Rachman article was my most popular blog over the last seven days, with a large number of hits from Japan. So when I scanned People’s Daily Online this morning, the above featured story immediately caught my attention.
On a visit to Tokyo, I have personally visited the Yasukuni Shrine; it’s an important historical landmark. However, the Wikipedia description of the Yasukuni Shrine‘s clearly cites the controversy:
Due to the enshrinement of International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE) war criminals and the nationalist approach to the war museum, the Yasukuni Shrine and the Japanese Government have been criticized by some of the East Asian countries.
Reading the People’s Daily subject article closely, it easy to see how the Chinese find the Japanese Government insensitive.
A quick scan of the People’s Daily Online revealed a series of related articles including:
- Irresponsible attitudes toward history jeopardize Japan’s future
- Japanese politicians’ shrine visits are shameless provocation
- Two Japanese ministers visit controversial Shrine
- Abe to make ritual offering at Yasukuni
- China urges Japan to reflect on history of aggression
- Japan’s PM rules out visit to controversial Yasukuni Shrine
- Yasukuni visit disrespects WWII anniversary
- Time to put an end to Japanese‘ghost worship’
- A-Class war criminals should out of Yasukuni Shrine: Japanese scholar
- Ministers have freedom to visit Yasukuni Shrine: Japanese PM
Let me turn this into an open question:
Do you think that Japan’s Government has been deliberately insensitive? If so, what are the policy objectives, implications and risks?
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Great posts!
Thanks 🙂
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The Chinese have very long memories and by visiting this shrine the Japanese make it harder for anyone to forget some of the things they did during the Rape of Nanjing when 550,000 of the inhabitants were put to death by the Japanese Imperial Army.
There are people still alive today, in this country, who can recall the horrors of the Bataan march and what was done in the prisoner of war camps to people who should have been at least protected by the Geneva Convention.
The Japanese were brought into the Second World War by an American oil embargo with the connivance of the UK and Holland, so indirectly there is shared responsibility for what subsequently followed even though that aspect of history is airbrushed out of what is taught in schools in the West.
Pearl Harbour was not the surprise it is still made out to be because for years before, at West Point, budding American generals and lower ranking officers were given exercises in which they had to think up America’s defensive position in the event of just such an attack.
Since Japan has to import oil because it has none of its own, the oil embargo was an act of war and from that point on Japan invoked its Bushido spirit and proceeded to expand its Empire and commit terrible atrocities in the process.
With the global population at 7 billion and rising and with most of us living in cities, we cannot afford a 3rd World War, and by constantly inflaming tensions in this way a war could easily begin in the South China Sea, the Korean Peninsula, the Spratleys where there is oil and in any number of other places.
The Chinese hold much of America’s debt and it is essential for all of us that that country remains open to trade and open to being talked to.
“Tweaking the dragon’s tail” is not wise and the Japanese by doing so are creating hostages to fortune, not only for themselves but for the rest of us.
In the same way, we should not encourage groups of former SS men to go to shrines of their own in Europe and parade about in their uniforms, America needs to lean heavily on the Japanese in private and get them to stop these needless provocations, concentrate on economic development and trade.