Japanese police said they arrested a South Korean national on Wednesday for allegedly obstructing the annual spring festival at Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine after he held up a banner with political messages. The 64-year-old displayed text urging “war criminals” to stop praying at the shrine and another message asserting a territorial claim on an island disputed between Japan and South Korea.
Yasukuni honors about 2.5 million war dead, including convicted war criminals. Visits to the shrine are often seen by nations that suffered Japanese aggression before and during World War II — especially China and the Koreas — as demonstrating a lack of remorse for Japan’s wartime actions.
According to Kyodo News, the man stood at the main gate in front of the shrine, obstructing vehicles that were carrying messengers from the emperor. The shrine said the messengers were delivering offerings from the emperor, who did not attend the politically sensitive event in person.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, a conservative who previously prayed at Yasukuni before becoming premier, again sent a religious ornament and offering instead of visiting herself. Takaichi’s decision drew criticism from China and South Korea. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman described the shrine as a “spiritual instrument and symbol of the wars of aggression launched by Japanese militarism.” South Korea’s Foreign Ministry expressed “deep disappointment and regret,” with spokesman Park Il urging Japan’s leaders to face history squarely and show “humble reflection” and “sincere remorse.”
No Japanese prime minister has visited the shrine since 2013, when then-premier Shinzo Abe’s visit provoked severe criticism from Beijing and Seoul and a rare rebuke from the United States. Still, lawmakers frequently attend in person: Kyodo reported a delegation of more than 120 lawmakers from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party visited on Wednesday. Cabinet member Minoru Kiuchi, the minister of economic and fiscal policy, attended the three-day spring festival separately and told reporters he offered “sincere gratitude, with deep reverence, to the spirits of heroes who gave their precious lives for the nation.”
Veteran LDP lawmaker Ichiro Aisawa, who led the delegation, said the many war dead “laid the foundation for a peaceful and prosperous Japan” and that their memories and records must be preserved.
This year’s ceremony comes as Prime Minister Takaichi’s government continues easing post-World War II limits on military activity and weapons exports and advances a larger defense posture, moves that have heightened regional sensitivities.
Edited by: Alex Berry