Why Japanese Lawmakers visit the Yasukuni Shrine

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NOTES: http://asianewsweekly.net/2014/11/12/japanese-lawmakers-visit-yasukuni-s... The big players in East Asia are China, South Korea, and Japan. Their collective histories are long and intertwined. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Japan decimated China through warfare and ruled over the Korean peninsula. Today, the three nations struggle to put the past behind them and forge strong diplomatic ties. One of the issues that continues to hinder that process is the view held by China and South Korea, that Japan idolizes its militaristic past and isn’t repentant for its past atrocities. The epitome of this is seen when lawmakers visit Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine. Built in 1869 by order of Emperor Meiji, Yasukuni enshrines the souls of all those who have perished in service of the Emperor. Much attention by China and South Korea are given to the Class-A war criminals enshrined, but they omit the factory workers, teachers, and even animals also on its grounds. In October, over one hundred lawmakers visited the shrine. Hidehisa Otsuji, who led the group of lawmakers said, “People in any country pay homage to those who died for the sake of their countries. It is odd that Japanese people are told off over doing what is also practiced in [other countries around the world].” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ignited a firestorm of criticism when he visited the shrine in December of 2013. That single event is credited with further deepening the rift between the East Asian nations. This autumn Abe did not attend annual autumn festival, but sent a ritual offering of a potted plant. If visiting the shrine causes so many international issues, why make the visit? Returning to the podcast is Michael Cucek, Adjunct Fellow at the Institute for Contemporary Asian Studies at Temple University Japan to discuss that very topic. What do you think is the appropriate course of action for lawmakers in Japan? Are China and South Korea, as some commenters say, just too sensitive and need to get over it, or should those in charge of Japan alter their behavior for the betterment of international relations? Asia Now is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Connect with me on social media and the internet! Twitter: http://twitter.com/AsiaNewsWeekly Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/asianewsweekly Podcast: http://asianewsweekly.net TAGS: asia news,asia news weekly,podcast,steve miller,qiranger,Japan,Yasukuni Shrine,China,South Korea,Asia,Asia News,Michael Cucek,Asia Now,Asia News Weekly
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