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At the shrine: Koizumi's dangerous
game
By J Sean Curtin
TOKYO -
On New Year's Day millions of Japanese normally enjoy
visiting a shrine or temple. Such pilgrimages are a
customary scene across the nation, but this year one
particular outing caused an international storm. To some
surprise, Japan's prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi,
paid homage at the highly controversial Yasukuni Shrine,
a site that Japan's neighbors strongly associate with
its militaristic past. More alarming, the visit seemed
to indicate that a broader prime-ministerial strategy
was at work aimed at reinterpreting the country's
wartime past.
To Japan's neighbors, the Yasukuni
Shrine represents some of the worst aspects of the
country's past. During Japan's colonial rule in Asia,
its military rulers made the shrine a rallying point for
ultra-nationalist sentiment. Today most Japanese
primarily view the shrine as a monument to the country's
war dead. However, it also honors several class A war
criminals, including wartime prime minister General
Hideki Tojo. In recent years, the site has frequently
been the focus of international controversy.
Both Beijing and Seoul regard a
prime-ministerial outing to the shrine as a sign that
Japan does not wish to atone for its wartime aggression.
Many ordinary Chinese and Koreans find a high-level
visit offensive, believing it demonstrates that Japan is
unrepentant for the suffering its troops inflicted on
the region.
A statement by a South Korean
Foreign Ministry spokesman, Shin Bong-kil, which was
broadcast on Japanese national news, sums up regional
feeling on the issue. He said, "Our government expresses
deep regret that Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi paid
homage at the Yasukuni Shrine which houses memorials to
war criminals, who undermined world peace and inflicted
intolerable damage and pain on our people." He added,
"We strongly urge Prime Minister Koizumi not to visit
the shrine again."
China's Xinhua News Agency
said Koizumi's actions "hurt the feelings of the Chinese
people", while the Chinese Foreign Ministry's official
website said Koizumi "ignored the sentiments of Chinese
and other Asian people toward Japan's wartime
aggression".
Despite the uproar that accompanies
a prime-ministerial sojourn to Yasukuni, since taking
office in April 2001, Koizumi has gone there an
unprecedented four times. His first foray was in August
2001, followed by another in April 2002 and then one in
January 2003. This trio had already made him a
persona non grata in Beijing. His latest
excursion is almost certain to lead to the Japanese
leader's permanent exclusion from China.
Before
Koizumi's August 2001 sortie, only one serving postwar
prime minister, Yasuhiro Nakasone, had officially visited the
shrine, and this was back in 1985. The torrent of
protest that greeted Nakasone's visit was enough to
persuade him not to make another. According to an
interview he gave in September 2001, Nakasone decided
not to make a second visit for fear of seriously
damaging Sino-Japanese ties.
Unlike Nakasone,
Koizumi has displayed no outward concern about the
damage he has caused to Sino-Japanese ties. Indeed, on
New Year's Day, a beaming Koizumi displayed the relaxed
and happy air of a carefree holidaymaker. Wearing a
traditional black-crested kimono, a cheerful Koizumi
merrily waved to onlookers as white-robed Shinto priests
led him up the steps of the shrine. After paying his
respects to the war dead, Koizumi announced to the
crowd, "I feel refreshed."
The premier
maintained his bright holiday-like manner when speaking
to the press afterward. Summarizing the visit, he told
the gathered media, "I prayed for peace and prosperity
at the Yasukuni Shrine, signing my name in the visitor's
book as prime minister." He added, "Japan's peace and
prosperity are not only the result of the efforts of
people today; they are also built on the sacrifice of
those who lost their lives in the war even though they
did not want to die."
Asked about how he thought
countries in the region would react, Koizumi responded
in an almost jovial tone, "I don't think the people of
any country would criticize the people of another for
paying respect to their own history, traditions and
customs." As on previous occasions, Koizumi defied
logic, insisting that neighboring countries would not be
offended by his actions.
The prime minister's
casual manner and apparent complete lack of concern
about the fierce reaction his visit would generate was
perhaps an attempt to conceal the real motive behind his
actions. One thing is for certain, Koizumi is a highly
calculating and masterful politician, who is fully aware
of the regional tensions his actions cause.
In
the Japanese press, a lot has been written over the past
two years as to why Koizumi is so determined to visit
the shrine repeatedly. These various theories can be
roughly put into the following four basic categories:
1) Koizumi pledged to visit the shrine once a year
in his campaign to become president of the Liberal
Democratic Party and he is honoring this
commitment.
2) He wants to attract right-wing
conservative voters for electoral purposes.
3) He
views the shrine as an important spiritual symbol of
Japanese patriotism that he is obliged to visit as the
country's leader.
4) It is a family duty to pay
homage as some of his kin were related to kamikaze
suicide pilots for whom the shrine held great
significance.
To varying degrees, all these
elements probably exerted some influence on Koizumi's
decision, but another greater unifying factor appears to
be emerging.
By making high-profile visits to a
notorious wartime-related shrine, what Koizumi appears
to be attempting is a reinterpretation of Japan's past
in a more distinctive nationalist hue than has
previously been acceptable. His basic message appears to
be that the way Japan interprets the war should be a
matter solely for Japan and nobody else. While this
approach largely ignores the suffering of other Asian
peoples in the region, it strikes a chord with many
Japanese. Opinion polls taken after previous visits
indicate that about 50 percent of people support
Koizumi's actions.
Koizumi will soon dispatch
Japanese troops to Iraq. This will be the first time
since World War II that Japan has sent its military into
an active combat zone, marking a major psychological
milestone in postwar Japanese history. Koizumi has also
stated that he wants to amend the constitution, perhaps
modifying the war-renouncing Article 9.
The
prime minister is gradually dismantling the constraints
imposed on Japan in the aftermath of its defeat in World
War II. His objective is to create a more assertive and
nationalistic Japan. The controversial shine visits
appear to be just one component in this strategy.
Koizumi has proved that he is an extremely
skillful politician and may eventually achieve his goal
of reshaping how Japan sees its own past and present
role in Asia. However, if this neo-nationalist agenda
does succeed, it would create serious tensions between
Japan and its neighbors, particularly China.
In
reality, Koizumi is playing a highly dangerous game in
which success would actually be disadvantageous to
Japan's long-term interests. History has clearly shown
that one-dimensional nationalism that ignores the
legitimate concerns and grievances of neighboring
countries is a recipe for disaster. If Koizumi could
just stop for one moment to contemplate why 2.5 million
Japanese soldiers are commemorated at the Yasukuni
Shrine, he might understand the folly of his current
high-risk strategy.
J Sean Curtin is a
GLOCOM fellow at the Tokyo-based Japanese Institute of
Global Communications.
(Copyright 2004 Asia
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