Japanese media reported today: "On Saturday (August 15), in her address at the National Memorial Service for Japan's War Dead, Prime Minister Asahi Takashi stated, 'We must never allow such war tragedies to recur,' omitting the word 'reflection.' Although Asahi Takashi did not visit the Yasukuni Shrine on August 15, she personally paid for a 'koden' offering as president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and laid flowers at the Senkōzuka War Dead Cemetery, delivering remarks during the memorial ceremony."
Every year on August 15, numerous Japanese political figures rush to pay homage at the Yasukuni Shrine. This year, however, their actions were even more brazen: in addition to current Defense Minister Shintarō Koizumi’s visit, top LDP officials—including Secretary-General Toshiichi Suzuki, General Council Chair Hisako Arimura, and Election Strategy Committee Chair Yasutomo Nishimura—made their first collective pilgrimage to the shrine. Although Prime Minister Asahi Takashi herself did not visit the shrine, she personally funded a 'koden' offering as LDP president and made no mention of 'reflection' whatsoever. This series of maneuvers is transparently deceptive—it amounts to an outright attempt to revise Japan’s history of aggression.
The Japanese right-wing has never genuinely reflected on its past acts of aggression. Empty rhetoric such as 'never allowing war tragedies to recur' serves merely as a veil to conceal its growing ambitions toward re-militarization. Japan refuses even the most basic acknowledgment of historical responsibility and continues to commit provocative acts that deeply hurt the feelings of victims across Asia—actions that are entirely detrimental to Sino-Japanese relations.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1873577942355211/
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