IN A last, defiant gesture as Prime Minister of Japan, Junichiro Koizumi denounced as immature foreign governments that criticised him for praying at a nationalist Shinto shrine where convicted war criminals are worshipped.
China and South Korea reacted with fury at Mr Koizumi’s visit yesterday to the Yasukuni shrine in central Tokyo, where Japanese war dead, including 14 Class-A war criminals convicted by Allied tribunals, are enshrined.
There was criticism from Singapore and Taiwan, which also suffered at the hands of Japanese imperialism, and public protests in China, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
At a separate ceremony to remember the war dead, Mr Koizumi expressed deep remorse and condolences for the “considerable damage and pain” caused by Japan to its Asian neighbours. But he stubbornly defended his decision to visit the shrine on the most sensitive and controversial of all days — the anniversary of Japan’s surrender in 1945.
“People say, ‘Don’t do anything that annoys China or South Korea, so Asian diplomacy will be in good shape’,” Mr Koizumi said after his early-morning visit. “But I don’t think that’s the case. If Bush of the United States tells me not to go, would I stop? No, I would still go even then. But President Bush would not say anything so immature. I have visited the shrine in the past to pray for those who had to sacrifice themselves. The visit is not dedicated to the Class-A war criminals. I am not going to the shrine in order to encourage Shinto or to glorify and justify Japan’s past militarism.”
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Mr Koizumi will step down next month after five years as Prime Minister, and his appearance at Yasukuni, formally dressed in a morning suit and bowing deeply in front of the inner sanctuary of the 137-year-old shrine, had been widely expected. But it marks a new low in Japan’s recent relations with its neighbours, and casts a shadow over his considerable achievements as a reformer of the Japanese political system and rejuvenated economy.
Within hours of the visit, which was broadcast live by 12 television helicopters hovering above the shrine, the Japanese ambassadors to Beijing and Seoul had been summoned for admonishment.
“Prime Minister Koizumi ignored the international community and its Asian neighbours, and also the Japanese people’s concerns and objections, and obstinately visited the Yasukuni shrine,” Li Zhaoxing, the Chinese Foreign Minister, said. “Not only has he lost the trust of the international community, he has also lost the trust of the Japanese people and harmed Japan’s image and interests.”
A group of about thirty protesters shouted slogans in front of the Japanese Embassy in Beijing, and in Hong Kong Japanese flags were set alight.
In a speech marking the 61st anniversary of his country’s liberation from Japanese colonisation, President Roh Moo Hyun of South Korean said: “Japan must repent sincerely and prove clearly it will not repeat its past wrongdoing by translating apologies into action.” A Taiwanese spokesman urged Japan to “face up to history” and Singapore described Mr Koizumi’s decision as unhelpful.
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Tens of thousands of visitors followed Mr Koizumi’s example and prayed at the shrine yesterday. “Just as in the United States people quite naturally visit Arlington Cemetery, so it should be natural for Japanese to come to Yasukuni,” Shingo Nishimura, a rightwing MP, said.
Crowds of elderly veterans and their families queued in front of the shrine along with uniformed members of right-wing groups. “The heroic spirits must be very grateful,” Masao Horie, a 90-year-old army veteran, said.