JAPAN: Japan marks the anniversary of its World War Two surrender as all eyes are on a controversial war shrine

Record ID: 464823

  • Title: JAPAN: Japan marks the anniversary of its World War Two surrender as all eyes are on a controversial war shrine
  • Date: 15th August 2007
  • Summary: FAMILY BOWING TOWARDS SHRINE
  • Embargoed: 30th August 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: History,Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVAAAG5WW75GSXLNRCZ3AERA18VK
  • Story Text: Japan's marks the anniversary of its World War Two surrender as all eyes are on a controversial war shrine and whether any politicians will be offering prayers there.
    The large cypress gates of Yasukuni, Japan's controversial war shrine, opened on Wednesday (August 15) admitting a crowd of early morning worshippers for celebrations to mark the end of World War Two 62 years ago.
    Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his cabinet are expected to stay away from the shrine that has been the focus of Asian diplomatic strife.
    Abe has refused to say if he will visit Yasukuni Shrine while in office, but media reports say he and his cabinet ministers will stay away, at least on the anniversary. Public broadcaster NHK said it would be the first time in at least 22 years that the entire cabinet had stayed away on the war anniversary.
    But Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, whose previous visits to Yasukuni chilled ties with China and South Korea, made an appearance at the shrine in morning dress on Wednesday to loud cheers from a group of supporters.
    Yasukuni honours Japanese World War Two leaders convicted by an Allied tribunal as war criminals, along with 2.5 million war dead and many in Asia consider it a symbol of Japan's past militarism. Domestic opinion is also deeply divided on the shrine.
    War veterans and relatives of the war dead braved scorching temperatures early on Wednesday morning to pay their respects at the Shinto shrine in central Tokyo.
    "I gave up my life once for our country and was ready to die. I had no choice but to follow my fate," said Sagae Ohsugi, 88, who served in North Korea during the war and spent three years in a Soviet detention camp after Japan's defeat in 1945.
    World War II veteran Kazuo Kanamori was in Papua New Guinea when he lost young soldiers of his unit in a battle. He makes it a rule to visit the shrine every summer - taking a 7-hour overnight bus ride with his wife - to visit his lost comrades.
    "I have lost my men in the battle field during WWII. That's why I take an overnight bus to visit this shrine on August 15 every year,"
    Kanamori said.
    Housewife Keiko Kojima was frustrated with the fact that none of the Japanese Cabinet members visited the shrine this year.
    "This is not a place where we need permission from other countries to visit. Our government should maintain our country's dignity," Kojima said.
    Many young Japanese people visited the shrine on the war anniversary, some trying to learn more about their own country's history.
    "I didn't know much about the war because none of my family members were directly involved in World War II. But today, I came here, saw people making solemn bows, and realised that this shrine means a lot to those who were affected by the war," said Wakako Kaneko, 27, who majors in chemistry at a graduate school.
    Prime Minister Abe moved swiftly after taking office last September to mend damaged ties with Japan's neighbours and analysts say he is unlikely to risk the progress made by paying homage on the anniversary.
    Abe came under fire earlier this year for saying there was no evidence the military or government were involved in abducting women into forced prostitution for soldiers before and during World War Two.
    He later apologised to the women, but his views on history may be called into question again after he said on Tuesday he would meet the son of an Indian judge who served on the postwar Allied tribunal.
    He is scheduled to pay his respects at a secular memorial and speak at a remembrance ceremony alongside Emperor Akihito later in the day, while a cross-party group of pro-Yasukuni lawmakers is set to visit the shrine.
    ENDS.
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