다카이치, 야스쿠니에 공물 대금 봉납…자민당 핵심 간부들, 이례적 단체참배

On May 15th, the day of Korea's liberation and Japan's surrender, Japanese Prime Minister Dacaichi San didn't visit Yasukuni Shrine himself but offered a symbolic "gift" of cash. In fact, opposition party leader Giizumi Shinzo and two other current cabinet members had attended the shrine for the seventh consecutive year on this day, marking an unprecedented "group visit."

Premier Dacaichi's office reported that he deposited the traditional offering of "dama-gushi," a symbolic cash gift, into the shrine's treasury instead of personally visiting. This is reported to be a distinction from Dacaichi's status as merely the party leader. Dacaichi's first visit to the shrine on this day came despite international backlash from countries like South Korea and China.

He plans to pay respects at the shrine personally in Tokyo in the morning. Meanwhile, Giizumi Shinzo visited the shrine at 7am. It has been two years since a current defense minister visited Yasukuni Shrine on this day. Okinawa and North Area Policy chiefs also visited the shrine in the morning and presented gifts. Additionally, opposition party members Suzuki Shinichi, Arima Haruko, and Nishimura Yasutoshi visited the shrine in a group, an unprecedented occurrence.

The Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo's Adachi Ward commemorates over 2.46 million Japanese who died during conflicts, including Class A war criminals from the Pacific War Trials, making it a symbol of Japan's militarism.