Sanae Takaichi offers a ritual gift to Yasukuni Shrine, likely to skip a visit

[Financial News, Tokyo = Correspondent Seo Hye-jin] Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi offered a ritual gift to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on the 21st, where Class-A war criminals from the Pacific War are enshrined.
According to Kyodo News and NHK, Takaichi made the offering under the name "Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi" as the shrine's Spring Grand Festival began that day. The offering, known as a "masakaki," was presented in her name.
This spring festival has drawn close attention because it is the first major Yasukuni Shrine observance since the right-leaning prime minister took office, raising questions over whether she would visit.
Takaichi has regularly visited Yasukuni Shrine during the spring and autumn festivals and on Japan's surrender day, Aug. 15, in the past. This time, however, she is expected to offer only a ritual gift and skip a visit, reportedly taking into account backlash from South Korea and China.
Before becoming prime minister, when she was serving only as LDP president last October, she also did not visit the shrine and instead paid for a "tamagushi" offering out of her own pocket.
At a press briefing that day, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said of Takaichi's decision to forgo a visit and offer only a ritual gift, "It is understood that she offered a masakaki in her personal capacity," adding, "We do not recognize this as an issue that requires a government-level statement."
Meanwhile, Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Kenichiro Ueno, Minister of State for Disaster Management Jiro Akama, and Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy Minoru Kiuchi also made offerings that day.
Fumitake Fujita, co-leader of the Japan Restoration Party, a coalition partner, and secretary-general Hiroshi Nakatsuka, among others, visited the shrine.
The bipartisan lawmakers' group known as the Parliamentarians' Association for Visiting Yasukuni Shrine Together is scheduled to visit on the 22nd.
Yasukuni Shrine honors the spirits of more than 2.466 million people who died in civil wars around the time of the Meiji Restoration and in numerous wars launched by imperial Japan.
Of them, about 2.133 million, or nearly 90 percent, are linked to the Pacific War. In particular, Class-A war criminals from the Pacific War, including former Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, who was executed under the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, are enshrined there.

[email protected] Seo Hye-jin Reporter