TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba sent an offering to Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, his office said on Thursday, drawing criticism from South Korea and China which view the shrine as a symbol of Japan’s militaristic past.
The shrine includes 14 Japanese wartime leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal among the 2.5 million war dead honoured there.
Offerings to the shrine – a rite commonly made to coincide with autumn and spring festivals – by Japanese prime ministers have often angered the two East Asian neighbours.
It was the first time that Ishiba had made such an offering, his office said.
South Korea’s foreign ministry expressed “deep disappointment and regret” that Japanese leaders have made such gestures or visited the shrine.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning urged Tokyo to “face up to and reflect on the history of aggression, to be prudent in its words and actions on the Yasukuni Shrine and other historical issues”.
Neither South Korea nor China mentioned Ishiba by name in their statements.
Ishiba took office this month after the resignation of his predecessor, Fumio Kishida, and he has called a snap election of Japan’s lower house of parliament. Polls indicate his ruling Liberal Democratic Party is at risk of losing its outright majority in the Oct. 27 election.
A former defence minister, Ishiba has proposed establishing what he calls an “Asian NATO” to bolster security in the region, but his ministers have played down the idea as U.S. and Indian officials have rejected the idea.
Relations between Japan and South Korea have improved in recent years and Ishiba and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol have said they hope to deepen ties further.
Ishiba, who also held a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang last week, has said Japan wants to resolve pending issues through consultations with China.
(Reporting by Nobuhiro Kubo, Rocky Swift and Kantaro Komiya in Tokyo, Jack Kim in Seoul, Ethan Wang in Beijing; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim, Edwina Gibbs and Gareth Jones)
