David Silenus
Very disturbing item …
1) Yasukuni Shrine is literally the “high temple” of Japanese militarism, where several convicted war criminals are buried …
2) Visits by any government minister at any time are controversial,
as they signal a rejection by the current Japanese elite of responsibility
for crimes committed from 1910 in Korea and 1931 in China and then during World War II …
3) So what does the timing of her pilgrimage mean — coming the day after her visit with Shinzo Abe to Pearl Harbor ???
4) As the AP article points out, this trip drew outraged responses from both South Korea and China, with most attention paid to the reaction in Seoul …
5) Given China’s growing unhappiness with Trump, my guess is that their reaction to this move is so intense
that the Tokyo AP bureau chief thought it safest to downplay it, at least for now …
That’s why this is so scary …
Defense Minister Tomomi Inada, just back from a visit to Pearl Harbor, has visited a Tokyo shrine that honors Japan’s war dead, including convicted war criminals.
Source: Japan’s Defense Minister Visits Yasukuni After Pearl Harbor – The New York Times