JAPAN: Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda stays away from Yasukuni war shrine on anniversary of his country's surrender in World War Two

Record ID: 463721

  • Title: JAPAN: Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda stays away from Yasukuni war shrine on anniversary of his country's surrender in World War Two
  • Date: 15th August 2008
  • Summary: LITTLE GIRL HOLDING DOVE
  • Embargoed: 30th August 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: International Relations,History
  • Reuters ID: LVA8F0SYU4HV0SDY43FN8AR3MUNE
  • Story Text: Japan marked the 63rd anniversary of its surrender in World War Two on Friday (August 15), but Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda avoided visiting a shrine for war dead seen by Asian neighbours as a symbol of Tokyo's past militarism.
    Fukuda, a moderate conservative who stresses good ties with Asian countries, made clear when he took office last September that he would not go there.
    Instead, he paid respects at a secular memorial to Japan's unknown soldiers and attended a government-sponsored remembrance ceremony.
    Unlike Fukuda, former prime ministers Shinzo Abe and Junichiro Koizumi and two current cabinet ministers were among those who paid their respects at Yasukuni shrine.
    The Tokyo shrine honours Japanese World War Two leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal, along with 2.5 million war dead.
    Past visits there by Japanese leaders have divided opinion at home and angered countries that suffered under Japan's military aggression in the early 20th century.
    A mixed crowd of former soldiers, relatives of the war dead dressed in mourning attire and right-wing activists in military uniforms flocked to the Shinto shrine in the summer heat.
    While most visitors were elders, who have experienced the war, young couples and children were also present.
    Nineteen-year-old student Kiriko Kumazaki said she didn't want to glorify war but was there to show those who died for Japan did not die in vain.
    Yoko Honma, who lost her father during the war, was there to pray for world peace at a time when there were so many wars taking place.
    Some visitors were critical of the 72-year-old prime minister's decision to stay away.
    Debate over visits to Yasukuni has been muted ahead of this year's anniversary, as policy-makers and voters focus more on Japan's faltering economy and consumers' worries about rising prices than questions of national pride and wartime history.
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