Prime Minister Abe Flicks The Scab Again With Latest Yasukuni Visit

Above, the Yasukuni Shrine. Wikipedia photo.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the controversial Yasukuni shrine yesterday and angered China and South Korea. (See this story from NBC News.)

The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo issued a statement calling the Prime Minister's visit “an action that will exacerbate tensions” with Japan's neighbors.

I know a little about the shrine and that it "honors" about a dozen or so World War II war criminals along with over 2 million war dead, but wondered why the Chinese and South Koreans go into a tizzy each time a Japanese government official visits the shrine.

An article in the Mainichi Shimbun explains the reasons behind the flap in a question & answer format.

Here's a snippet:

Question: Why is visiting the shrine such a big issue? 

Answer: The most problematic aspect of the shrine is that among the war dead it honors -- going all the way back to the Boshin War of 1868-1869 -- are Class-A war criminals from World War II. Class-A war criminals are politicians and military officers who, after Japan's defeat in World War II, were convicted by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East -- or Tokyo Trials -- of "crimes against peace" and other war-related offences. 

When Japan regained independence after signing the San Francisco Peace Treaty in 1951, it agreed to accept the outcome of the Tokyo Trials. Because Yasukuni honors Class-A war criminals, people may consider a visit by the Japanese prime minister as rejecting the verdicts of the Tokyo Trials and attempting to legitimize Japan's invasions of its Asia neighbors.

After reading the full article, I can see why visits to the shrine by Japanese government officials would be like "flicking a scab" of the wounds of the Chinese and South Koreans. Would the removal of the Class-A war criminals from the shrine help the situation?

To read more, go here.