JAPAN: Invoking Warlike Spirits to Push Reforms

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Oct 19 2005 (IPS) - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s surprise visit to the war-related Yasukuni Shrine, this week, is aimed at boosting national pride and support for his sweeping reform programme after his landslide victory in September, say analysts.

”Obviously, the visit was staged by Koizumi to gain more political clout. He is brimming with confidence after the Diet passed his postal reform bills last week and his decision to go head and pay his respects at Yasukuni is welcome,” explained professor Yasuhiro Horie at the Kyushu University.

Still, the angry reaction of Japan’s Asian neighbours-China and South Korea lodged strong protests against the Yasukuni visit- point out other analysts, has detracted from the popularity of the visit.

”Protests by China and South Korea that suffered during Japanese colonisation in the 20th century, is a clear reminder that Japan cannot act alone in a global community despite whatever Koizumi says,” says Setsu Kobayashi, professor of law at Keio University.

On Monday, soon after his visit, Koizumi told reporters that ”no foreign country should take issue with the way we express out condolences for the war dead”.

Aware of the controversial response that would follow his fifth visit as Prime Minister, officials announced the event in the morning a few hours before he arrived at the Shrine dressed in suit and tie and not in official traditional mourning as displayed before.

But the bid to tone-down the visit has not worked, wrote the liberal Asahi newspaper, Tuesday, in a commentary.

Asahi criticised the visit on the ground that Koizumi has damaged Japanese diplomatic relations with China and South Korea preferring to protect his own reputation as a strong leader for his own personal again.

Even Washington, a close ally of Koizumi, released a new statement Tuesday night that urged Japan, China, South Korea and other Asian neighbours to work out their differences over Koizumi’s continued visits to Yasukuni Shrine.

The statement refers to the fact that Class A war criminals who were executed after being found guilty during the Tokyo War Tribunal after Japan’ s defeat in World War 11, are buried among other soldiers in Yasukuni, a Shinto Shrine in central Tokyo.

But visiting Yasukuni remains a highly emotional issue for the Japanese.

The Shrine, dedicated to the spirits of Shinto, the indigeneous religion of Japan, where 2.4 million persons who died in various wars are buried, pits powerful conservatives such as Liberal Democratic Party bigwigs and rightist groups against liberals and peace activists.

Conservatives see Koizumi’s paying respects at Yasukuni as protecting Japan’s pride while critics say the visit does not honor national contrition for its past aggression in Asia.

Said Shinzo Abe, acting secretary general pitched to be the next prime minister: ”Its natural for the leader to express his noble respect for those who died for the nation. Whoever becomes next prime minister, the duty ( to pay a visit to Yasukuni Shrine) should be fulfilled.”

Professor Kobayashi who is spearheading a movement to study the issue as a legal problem, says contrary to the opinions of conservative politicians, Koizumi’s vist to Yasukuni is against the post-war peace constitution that forbids the mixing of religion and government.

A week ago, the high court deemed that the Prime Minister, who by visiting Yasukuni in an official capacity in 2001 and 2003, had engaged in religious activities that are forbidden by Article 20 in the Constitution- the first such court ruling.

The case was filed in February 2003 by a group of plaintiffs including Taiwanese nationals. Taiwan was under Japanese colonisation from 1895 to 1945 when the island was returned to Chinese rule.

The controversy, points out the Asahi newspaper, has played well for the Prime Minister who already exerts a popular appeal as a strong and unwavering personality.

The editorial said the visit was an important step in pushing Koizumi’s agenda in a domestic climate where Japan is struggling to push its economy ahead and bring reforms.

”By turning the focus on patriotism, there is the danger of fanning national pride to help the Prime Minister to push through reforms that are till not explained or debated thoroughly among the public,” said Asahi.

Horie on the other hand, says he hopes the latest visit will pave the way for prime ministers to keep visiting Yasukuni that respects Japan’s soldiers who died to protect Japan from foreign invasion.

Japanese politicians are now debating changes in the constitution that includes the famous peace clause that renounces war, a condition that represents Japan’s repentance for invading Asia during the Pacific war.

On the other hand, the Yomiuri Newspaper, Japan’s largest and conservative daily, criticized Koizumi for failing to explain why he made the visit a personal one by simplifying his worship at the shrine.

As Prime Minister Koizumi apparently did not want to yield to pressure from China, he did not want to forego his visit either, writes the Yomuiri, adding that the visit leaves the issue of how the government intends to commemorate the war dead, very unclear.