Abe on Monday sent a pair of religious ornaments to the Yasukuni Shrine, apparently as Tokyo tries to arrange a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G-20 summit in China next month.
At a state memorial ceremony later Monday, Abe reiterated his pledge not to let the tragedy of war be repeated, but he neither mentioned Japan’s wartime actions in Asia nor apologized to its victims.
In his past four end-of-war anniversary speeches, Abe has not acknowledged Japan’s war atrocities or made his own apology over them, though he touched on some wartime actions last year during a speech in Washington and his 70th anniversary statement last year.
Emperor Akihito reiterated his “feelings of deep remorse” a phrase he used last year for the first time, capturing media attention as they drew a comparison between his speech and Abe’s.
Akihito, 82, made the address after observing a moment of silence in his first public appearance outside the palace since he indicated his abdication wish in a video message last week.
Abe visited the Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery for unidentified soldiers on his way to the memorial ceremony at the nearby Budokan hall.
As a sign of the lingering bitter feelings in Asia over Japan’s actions, a group of South Korean lawmakers picked the day to land on disputed small islands in the Sea of Japan to celebrate their country’s liberation from Japanese colonization. The islands are controlled by South Korea but also claimed by Tokyo.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga reiterated Japan’s claims to the islands and said the lawmakers’ actions were “unacceptable and extremely regrettable.” He said Tokyo had protested to Seoul.
There was a mixed reaction in South Korea, where President Park Geun-hye focused on future relations with Japan, while the Foreign Ministry expressed “deep concerns and regret” over the Yasukuni visits.
Abe’s last visit to the Yasukuni Shrine in December 2012 had drawn sharp rebukes from China and South Korea, which see Yasukuni as a symbol of Japan’s wartime militarism and consider the visits an attempt to whitewash Japan’s wartime aggression.
His special aide Yasutoshi Nishimura, and a ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker, told reporters that he offered a donation from Abe to the shrine along with the religious ornaments and prayed on his behalf.
At least four Cabinet ministers have visited Yasukuni since early August, two of them Monday.
Hidehisa Otsuji, head of a non-partisan group of lawmakers who routinely visit Yasukuni, told reporters that Abe’s absence would be understood (by the war dead) “if it’s a judgment based on national interest.”
Separately, a group of ultra-conservative members chaired by Tomomi Inada, a recently appointed defense minister known for her hawkish remarks and for downplaying Japan’s wartime atrocities, also visited the shrine.
Inada is a regular at Yasukuni during ceremonial occasions but was out of the country this year.
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