Abe reportedly won’t visit Yasukuni Shrine during spring

[frigidmagi]

Japan Times

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe does not plan to visit Yasukuni Shrine during its three-day annual spring festival that starts Thursday, according to government sources.

Abe is apparently seeking to avoid friction with China and South Korea, as well as the United States, especially in the run-up to Japan’s hosting of the Group of Seven summit in May and a trilateral summit with Beijing and Seoul later this year, the sources said Tuesday.

A government source said that if Abe were to visit the controversial Shinto shrine, it “would put a damper on improved relations” with China and South Korea, which view Yasukuni as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism as it honors convicted war criminals, along with millions of war dead.

An aide to Abe said that instead of visiting the shrine, he is likely to dedicate a masakaki tree offering as part of efforts to appease his conservative supporters without damaging relations with China and South Korea.

“He has done so in recent years,” the aide said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Tokyo-Seoul relations have shown considerable improvement since the two governments reached an agreement in December to resolve the issue of “comfort women” who were forced to work in Japan’s wartime military brothels.

Tokyo-Beijing ties have improved somewhat but remain fragile since Abe and President Xi Jinping had their first meeting in November 2014. Before that, bilateral relations had deteriorated sharply over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which are administered by Japan but claimed by China and Taiwan.

Japan hopes to arrange a meeting between Abe and Xi in September on the sidelines of a summit of the Group of 20 nations in Hangzhou, eastern China, according to Japanese officials.

Abe last visited Yasukuni in December 2013, angering China and South Korea. The visit also prompted the United States to express disappointment with Japan’s exacerbation of tensions with its neighbors.

Since then, Abe has refrained from visiting the shrine on occasions such as its annual spring and fall festivals and the Aug. 15 anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II.

Asked if Abe plans to visit the shrine during this year’s spring festival, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a news conference Tuesday: “This is an issue that the prime minister judges appropriately. I don’t think I should say something about it.”

The G-7 Ise-Shima summit, slated for May 26 and 27 in Mie Prefecture, will bring together the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.

Including the G-7, the Group of 20 involves major developed and emerging economies such as Brazil, Russia, India and China.