Making headline news today is prime minister Abe’s offering to Yasukuni Jinja for its autumn festival. It’s a red-hot issue, and not just because of China and Korea’s sensitivity to the symbolism of the shrine (it enshrines Class A war criminals as well as hosting a museum that glorifies Japan’s role in WW2). It’s also a borderline violation of Japan’s Constitution, which the right-wing of the governing LDP (to which Abe belongs) are seeking to change by stealth.
Prime minister Abe Shinzo on a previous visit to Yasukuni Shrine
According to the Constitution, Japan is a secular country and the prime minister does not have the right to use his office to support a religious entity. Article 20 of the Constitution clearly states that no religious organization shall receive any privileges from the State, and that the State and its organs shall refrain from religious education or any other religious activity.
Yet today there is a report by Thomson Reuters that “Abe made the offering in the name of the prime minister to mark the autumn festival” – a clear criminal act (click here for the original report). However, one should never believe everything one reads in the press, and the Japan Times reports differently; “Katsunobu Kato, deputy chief Cabinet secretary, told reporters that Abe and Tamura made their offerings in a private capacity.”
One sees then just what a thin line Abe is treading in his desire to protect his nationalist credentials while keeping good relations with his neighbours. One sees too how unreliable the press can be!
Incidentally, what was the offering Abe made? “A masakaki, a shrine spokesperson said, adding that the cost was ¥50,000”. I thought at first this must be a whole sakaki tree given the 500 dollar price, but from this website I learnt that a masakaki looks like this……
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For Abe’s reasons for not visiting Yasukuni, click here.
For an item about Chidorigafuchi as a US preferred alternative to Yasukuni, click here.
Previous prime ministers have gone to church without breaking the law.