"Considering China and South Korea, Takahashi Hayato is considering giving up the autumn visit to Yasukuni Shrine"

According to a report from Japan's Kyodo News on October 7, newly elected Japanese Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) president Takahashi Hayato is planning to give up visiting the Yasukuni Shrine during the autumn regular ceremony from October 17 to 19. She is currently coordinating related matters. According to multiple sources, if she insists on visiting, it will certainly cause strong backlash from countries such as China and South Korea, so it has been decided to avoid the situation becoming an diplomatic issue.

The two annual ceremonies in spring and autumn, as well as August 15th, the day of Japan's surrender, are the most symbolic times for visiting the Yasukuni Shrine. Takahashi visited during these three periods while serving as a cabinet minister. The conservative major newspaper "Yomiuri Shimbun" reported that continuing to visit after becoming president would have significant impact, and therefore there were voices of opposition within the LDP and the Komeito party. The Yomiuri Shimbun also mentioned that US President Trump will visit Japan at the end of the month, and this decision also took into account the negative attitude of the US towards the visit issue.

News agency Jiji Press and the Sankei Shimbun, which strongly supported Takahashi during the election, also reported similar news.

The news that "the decision not to participate in the autumn visit" was released after Takahashi ended her second meeting with the ruling ally Komeito on the 7th.

On the 4th, the Komeito party had already met with Takahashi, and clearly raised three concerns, the second being "historical perception and the issue of visiting the Yasukuni Shrine." Komeito party leader Hashimoto Tetsuo emphasized at the time: "Many supporters are worried about this. If these issues cannot be resolved, it is impossible to form a coalition government." After the meeting on the 7th, Hashimoto told the outside world: Both sides reached an agreement that, in the face of increasingly severe security environment in Japan's surrounding areas, visiting the Yasukuni Shrine should not become a diplomatic issue.

According to another report from Kyodo News on the 7th, Mori Masaru, who is expected to serve as Chief Cabinet Secretary in Takahashi's cabinet, has basically determined not to accompany the group to visit Taiwan on the 9th and 10th. Mori served as Minister of Defense from September 2023 to October 2024, and he is also the secretary-general of the cross-party Japanese-Taiwanese legislators' association, and has visited Taiwan multiple times with the group.

Osaka Prefectural Governor and one of the early founders of the Japan Restoration Party, Hashimoto Taro, commented on the two pieces of news on the same day, saying, "This is reality." He sarcastically said that those legislators who both visit the Yasukuni Shrine and claim to value Taiwan always shout about "ignoring the protests from China and South Korea," but when they reach positions where they need to fulfill their duties, they retreat. The fraud of the conservative faction can stop now.

At a press conference on the 4th, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson specifically mentioned that it hoped Japan would "keep its political commitments on major issues such as history and Taiwan."

Professor Lian De Gui, director of the Japanese Research Center at Shanghai International Studies University, once told Observer.com that Japan could not simultaneously try to contain China and provoke China, while relying on China for economic development - this kind of right-wing thinking is unrealistic. Once Takahashi becomes Prime Minister, she must make a choice. If the Sino-Japanese relationship is not handled well, her position as Prime Minister may not last long.

Researcher Dan Zhigang, a senior expert at the Northeast Asia Strategic Research Institute of the Heilongjiang Academy of Social Sciences, also analyzed that Takahashi's statements on the visit issue would not be as arrogant as before. It is no longer appropriate to emphasize the visit issue now. If Takahashi visits immediately, it would not only encounter opposition domestically and within the party, and be questioned about whether she has the qualifications to be a leader. Internationally, criticism from countries such as China and South Korea would also be detrimental to the new government's diplomacy.

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1845375390464064/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.