Japanese police said they detained a 64-year-old South Korean on Wednesday after he displayed banners with political messages at the annual spring festival at Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine. Authorities allege the man blocked the main gate and impeded vehicles carrying imperial messengers who were delivering offerings; the emperor did not attend the ceremony in person.
Witnesses said the protest signs urged those convicted as “war criminals” not to pray at the shrine and included a claim on an island disputed between Japan and South Korea. Yasukuni honors roughly 2.5 million people who died in wartime service, including individuals convicted of wartime atrocities, and visits to the shrine are frequently criticized by countries that suffered Japanese aggression during the early 20th century.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who in the past has visited Yasukuni, again refrained from attending and instead sent a religious ornament and an offering. That choice drew criticism from Beijing and Seoul. China’s Foreign Ministry condemned the shrine as a symbol of Japan’s wartime militarism, while South Korea’s Foreign Ministry voiced deep disappointment and urged Japanese leaders to confront the past with humility and genuine remorse.
No Japanese prime minister has made an official visit since 2013, when then-premier Shinzo Abe’s trip sparked strong rebukes from China and South Korea and an unusually critical response from the United States. Still, many lawmakers attend the shrine’s ceremonies: Kyodo News reported that more than 120 members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party visited on Wednesday.
Cabinet minister Minoru Kiuchi attended the three-day spring festival separately and told reporters he had offered gratitude and reverence to those who died for the nation. Veteran LDP lawmaker Ichiro Aisawa, who led the delegation, said the war dead helped lay the foundation for Japan’s peace and prosperity and that their memories should be preserved.
This year’s observance took place amid Prime Minister Takaichi’s push to relax some post-World War II limits on Japan’s military activity and arms exports and to strengthen the country’s defense posture — initiatives that have increased tensions and sensitivities among Japan’s neighbors.