Japan’s Takaichi sends offering to Yasukuni on WWII anniversary, Koizumi visits shrine

On the 81st anniversary of the end of World War II, Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and three other Cabinet members paid a visit to Yasukuni Shrine, a controversial site in Tokyo that commemorates both war dead and convicted war criminals. However, prime minister Sanae Takaichi, a conservative, opted to send an offering on the shrine's behalf from a distance, bowing twice, clapping twice and bowing once in an apparent act of Shinto worship.

Despite her conservative stance, Takaichi's decision not to visit the shrine was influenced by diplomatic considerations. China and South Korea, who suffered under Japan's wartime aggression, expressed their disapproval and protest over the government's decision. Upon arriving at the Nippon Budokan Hall, Takaichi turned towards Yasukuni Shrine across the road and conducted the acts of Shinto worship from a distance.

Before her tenure, Takaichi had visited the shrine during seasonal festivals and the August 15 anniversary, but has since refrained from going there, a move seen as a reflection of her diplomatic considerations. The shrine enshrined 14 wartime leaders as deities in 1978, most of whom were convicted as Class-A war criminals. LDP Secretary General Shunichi Suzuki stated that the prime minister's offering was paid for out of her own pocket and that she fully understood Takaichi's feelings about the spirits of the war dead.