Photo/Illutration Defense Minister Minoru Kihara visits Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Aug. 15. (Shota Tomonaga)

Defense Minister Minoru Kihara visited war-related Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Aug. 15 in a move that provoked a backlash from South Korea.

South Korea and China view the shrine as a symbol of Japan’s wartime militarism as it honors 14 Class-A war criminals along with the nation’s war dead.

Both countries are opposed to any Cabinet ministers visiting the shrine, but Kihara’s actions are potentially more inflammatory because he oversees national security. 

“I offered my heartfelt condolences and paid my respect and reverence to those who sacrificed their precious lives,” Kihara told reporters on Aug. 15, the 79th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II.

Asked about the visit’s possible impact on Tokyo’s ties with Seoul, Kihara only said, “We will continue to strengthen relations with South Korea.”

He said he made a cash offering using his own money.

Seoul quickly responded to Kihara’s visit.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs described it as an “anachronistic act.”

Kim Sang-hoon, director-general of the ministry’s Asian and Pacific Affairs Bureau, summoned Taisuke Mibae, deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, to lodge a protest.

“We express our deep disappointment and regret about individuals in Japan’s responsible leadership positions having made offerings and repeated visits to the shrine,” a ministry spokesman said in a statement on Aug. 15.

“We urge responsible Japanese leaders to face up to history and demonstrate humble reflection and genuine remorse for past history through their actions. This is an important foundation for the development of future-oriented South Korea-Japan relations,” the statement said.

Two of Kihara’s predecessors have also visited the shrine since the turn of the century.

Then-Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi went on Aug. 13, 2021. 

In 2002, Gen Nakatani, as director-general of what was then the Defense Agency, visited Yasukuni Shrine on Aug. 15.

Kihara was not the only Cabinet minister who visited on the anniversary this year.

Sanae Takaichi, who is in charge of economic security, and Yoshitaka Shindo, who leads economic revitalization efforts, also visited Yasukuni Shrine on Aug. 15.

“I offered my sincere appreciation, with respect and reverence, for the souls of those who died in the service of national policy,” Takaichi told reporters.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida did not visit the shrine but did make a cash offering at his own expense. The offering was made via an aide as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Kishida announced on Aug. 14 that he will effectively resign as prime minister next month by not seeking re-election as LDP president.

Other notable visitors to Yasukuni Shrine on Aug. 15 included LDP lawmakers Shinjiro Koizumi, former environment minister, and Takayuki Kobayashi, former minister in charge of economic security.

The two politicians are seen as potential contenders in the LDP’s leadership race in September. 

Seventy-eight members from the Diet’s two chambers who belong to a nonpartisan lawmakers group formed to visit the shrine also made the trip on Aug. 15.

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