Japan Ministers visit controversial shrine

China, S. Korea register their protest

Japan's Emperor Naruhito, right, and Empress Masako observe a moment of silence during a memorial service marking the 76th anniversary of the end of World War II in Tokyo, Japan, on Sunday, Aug. 15, 2021. In Tokyo on the Sunday anniversary of Japan’s Aug. 15, 1945 surrender, at least two members of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s cabinet visited Yasukuni Shrine, which honors 14 wartime leaders convicted as Class A war criminals alongside other war dead. Photographer: Toru Hanai/Bloomberg

Three Japanese Cabinet Ministers visited a shrine seen by neighbouring countries as a symbol of Tokyo’s past militarism on Sunday, the anniversary of the nation’s Second World War surrender.

It came after two other members of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s Cabinet, including Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi, visited Yasukuni Shrine on Friday, drawing angry reactions from China and South Korea.

The shrine in central Tokyo honours 2.5 million war dead, mostly Japanese, who have perished since the late 19th century. But it also enshrines senior military and political figures convicted of war crimes by an international tribunal.

Around 200 people participated in the ceremony, which usually gathers 6,000 and was scaled back because of the coronavirus.

On Friday, Beijing expressed “strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition” to Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi’s visit to Yasukuni.

Mr. Kishi is a brother of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who also visited the shrine on Sunday.

South Korea summoned the Japanese Embassy’s deputy chief of mission to protest Friday’s visits, according to Japanese media.