What is Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, linked to Japan’s wartime atrocities?
- Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, which commemorates some two and a half million mostly Japanese soldiers and civilians killed in World War II, is one of the country’s most revered sites, visited by millions every year.
- But the shrine, which also honours 14 convicted war criminals, is seen as a symbol of Japan’s colonial-era atrocities in Asia.
- The visit to the shrine by Japanese officials, including Defence Minister, Shinjiro Koizumi, has provoked criticism from China and South Korea – who view the shrine as symbolic of Tokyo’s failure to atone for the atrocities its forces committed.
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- Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, which commemorates some two and a half million mostly Japanese soldiers and civilians killed in World War II, is one of the country’s most revered sites, visited by millions every year.
- But the shrine, which also honours 14 convicted war criminals, is seen as a symbol of Japan’s colonial-era atrocities in Asia.
- The visit to the shrine by Japanese officials, including Defence Minister, Shinjiro Koizumi, has provoked criticism from China and South Korea – who view the shrine as symbolic of Tokyo’s failure to atone for the atrocities its forces committed.
Sources: Al Jazeera