70 lawmakers make cross-party visit to war-linked Yasukuni shrine
A cross-party group of around 70 Japanese lawmakers on Tuesday attended the spring festival at the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, regarded as a symbol of the country's past militarism by its Asian neighbors.
Group member Ichiro Aisawa, a lawmaker from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said at a press conference, "We should never forget the history of how the spirits of many fallen heroes laid the foundation for a peaceful and prosperous Japan after the war."
Yasukuni, however, has long been a source of diplomatic friction with China and South Korea, as the shrine honors Japan's wartime leaders convicted as war criminals by a post-World War II international tribunal, along with about 2.4 million war dead.
On Tuesday, former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi, who was narrowly defeated by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in last year's LDP presidential race, also visited the shrine. She has been labeled a "right-wing" nationalist by Chinese state-run media.
The group's visit came a day after Ishiba sent a ritual offering to the shrine to mark the festival. He is not expected to make an in-person appearance during the three-day event through Wednesday, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The cross-party group usually visits the shrine for the spring and autumn festivals as well as the anniversary of the end of World War II on Aug. 15, despite backlash from China and South Korea, where resentment of Japanese wartime militarism runs deep.
For last year's fall festival, the group did not organize a visit to Yasukuni as the event coincided with campaigning for the Oct. 27 general election, in which the ruling bloc led by Ishiba's LDP lost its majority in the House of Representatives.
Japan had invaded and occupied a wide area of China by the end of the war and ruled the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.
Related coverage:
Japan PM Ishiba sends offering to war-linked Yasukuni shrine, no visit eyed
Japan PM to forgo visit to war-linked Yasukuni shrine for spring rite
False report on Yasukuni visit "regrettable": Japan government spokesman
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