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Summary
Deteriorating Japanese bilateral relations with China and South
Korea are caused by several factors, but the Yasukuni shrine remains
one of the principal causes. The controversy focuses on continued
visits to the shrine by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to
pay respect to Japan’s war dead. The shrine houses the spirits of
over 1000 convicted war criminals, including 14 Class A war
criminals. Many in the region, most notably China and South Korea,
argue that this shrine and the museum located on the grounds not
only glorify Japan’s militaristic past but also gloss over
atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers during the Second World
War. The visits demonstrate Japan’s unwillingness to own up to WWII
actions and pose consequences and negative implications for future
regional relations. Koizumi and right wing politicians maintain that
these visits constitute a purely domestic issue and are a “matter of
personal freedom.” Japan should look beyond the issue of personal
religious freedom and devise a way to honor their war dead but also
recognize their place in history. This entails Japan taking the
initiative to solve the problem which should include a fundamental
change to the shrine itself, removal of the museum on the shrine
grounds, or the construction of a new memorial.
Yasukuni in Context
The
Yasukuni shrine, commissioned by Emperor Meiji in 1869, commemorates
Japan’s war dead from the Boshin War in 1868 through WWII. Soon
after its construction, the shrine was elevated to one of the
principal shrines of State Shinto and many of the country’s most
traditional Shinto rituals are performed there. Most shrines
dedicated to local wars are part of the Association of Shinto
Shrines, yet Yasukuni is regulated by the Tokyo municipal
government. Maintenance and operations costs are funded through
offerings and donations. A large known backer is the Nippon Izokukai,
a powerful conservative group representing bereaved families of the
war dead. This group historically has had a strong, though recently
waning, influence over the prevailing Liberal Democratic Party
(LDP), Koizumi’s party.
Over the past 137 years, nearly 2.5
million kami, or spirits, have been enshrined at Yasukuni.
These spirits become a part of the shrine with the addition of their
names to the shrine’s Book of Souls. Included in this 2.5 million
are, according to the shrine’s literature, "some 1068 people, who
were wrongly accused as war criminals by the Allied court.” These
1068 people were all convicted under the International Military
Tribunal of the Far East, with 14 of them Class A war criminals. The
14 Class A war criminals were enshrined at Yasukuni in 1978 but this
did not become known publicly until 1979. From 1979 to 1984, three
Japanese prime ministers visited the shrine 20 times without
fanfare. It was not until Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone’s visit
in 1985 that Japanese news agencies gave the visit massive coverage.
Soon afterwards the Chinese and Korean governments began to protest
the visit.
After 1975, Emperor Hirohito did not
again visit Yasukuni shrine and his successor, Emperor Akihito, has
continued this policy. No official reason was given but diaries kept
by the former leader of the Imperial Household Agency that have
recently been made public point to the inclusion of the war
criminals’ spirits as the reason why Emperor Hirohito stopped
visiting the shrine. Since the enshrinement of the war criminals,
six out of thirteen prime ministers have visited the shrine.
The content of Yasukuni and its museum
include explanations and paraphernalia detailing Japan’s military
past. The museum paints the picture of Japan being forced by the
West into conflict to protect Japan’s sovereignty and to avoid
becoming the next Western colony. According to the museum exhibit,
the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was forced by a plot by
President Roosevelt. The exhibit also claims Japan fought a purely
defensive war forced on it by "Chinese terrorists" and that Asian
nations from India to Indonesia owe their independence from European
colonialism to the thankless efforts of the Japanese. Many in China
and South Korea are angered that a Japanese leader would find it
appropriate to visit a site that glosses over Japanese atrocities as
well as glorifies its militaristic past. Visiting the Yasukuni
Shrine is further evidence that Japan does not properly understand
history and its role in WWII. Japanese leaders claim they have
apologized and properly atoned for past behavior and urge China to
move on.
Why Yasukuni Matters
The US was also a victim of Japanese aggression during WWII, but its
unique history with Japan has allowed the US to move on and
establish one of its most important alliances. Unlike China and
South Korea, the US has a short historic memory. The sensitivity to
this issue remains high as China and South Korea fear a strong Japan
will return to its militaristic ways. If Japan does not properly
recognize the atrocities committed during WWII, there is always a
risk that it will be repeated. The visits to the Yasukuni shrine,
deployment of the Self Defense Forces (SDF) to Iraq, and recent
musings by Japanese politicians concerning military action against
North Korea cause concern among its Asian neighbors.
A Way Forward
A solution to this issue would be the removal of the spirits of the
war criminals. Some Japanese believe that once a soul is enshrined,
the spirit becomes intertwined with the other spirits to become one,
making it impossible to separate interred souls. Even so, Shinto
experts say that such a soul relocation could be performed. "It
would be possible to remove the class-A war criminals from Yasukuni
if certain [religious] rituals were undertaken," says Nobutaka
Inoue, a professor of Shinto studies at Kokugakuin University. "But
the priests at Yasukuni have no such intention.” Also, the idea of
asking Yasukuni to "move" the spirits fails to take into account
freedom of religion, says Yoshinobu Miyake, a Shinto expert at the
International Shinto Foundation. "There is no way that public
opinion or civic authorities can dictate what an independent
religious body should or should not worship - what Yasukuni
enshrines is solely the decision of the shrine itself," he says.
Along with the removal of
the spirits, another recommendation is to remove the museum. This
controversial museum houses literature and films that are all but
apologetic with such books as The Alleged Nanking Massacre.
If the Yasukuni shrine is to remain the official private site to
commemorate Japanese war dead, then this museum seems out of step
with the government’s apology. The views on Japan’s role in World
War II fly in the face of any type of atonement or apologies the
Japanese government has made.
Another recommendation is the construction of a neutral site to
honor Japanese civilian and military war dead based on an idea
similar to the Arlington National Cemetery. This would allow
Japanese politicians, leaders, and even the emperor to properly
honor Japanese soldiers and celebrate Japan’s new tradition of
peace. This site would not have the souls of the dead, which would
eliminate the issue of war criminals being worshipped along with the
souls of other soldiers. No one denies that Japan has a right to
honor its war dead, including civilian and combat deaths throughout
Japanese history. This memorial would allow Japan to take a fresh
look at history, reconciling its national obligation to honor its
war dead while taking responsibility for atrocities committed.
Conclusion
There
is a large domestic and international price to pay for Japan’s
inability to solve an issue sixty years in the making. Failure to
settle the Yasukuni matter will continue to resonate throughout the
region and will contribute to further deterioration of bilateral
relations. It is in Japan’s self interests as well as in the
interests of governments in the region to resolve this issue. Japan
must look inward to come to terms with its place in history and take
the necessary steps to honor the victims of war in a way that
respects historical reality and its place as a leader in the region.
Erin Murphy was a
Summer Associate at The Forum for International Policy in 2006. Ms.
Murphy received her undergraduate degree from Tufts University, and
is currently working towards her M.A. from
the School of Advanced International Studies of the Johns Hopkins
University (SAIS). |