Tensions high as Japan ministers visit war shrine
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Japanese Land and Transport Minister Yuichiro Hata (L) and lawmakers follow a Shinto priest during a visit to the controversial Yasukuni shrine to honour the dead on the 67th anniversary of Japan's surrender from World War II, in Tokyo on August 15, 2012. -- PHOTO: AFP
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Doves are released in prayer of perpetual peace by worshippers at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo Wednesday, Aug 15, 2012. Japan marked the 67th anniversary of its World War II surrender with a somber memorial led by its emperor and other commemorations. -- PHOTO: AP
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Japanese veterans and their followers clad in outdated military costume march to pay respects to the nation's war dead at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo Wednesday, Aug 15, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
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Japanese veterans and their followers clad in outdated military costume march to pay respects to the nation's war dead at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo Wednesday, Aug 15, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
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Japan's Emperor Akihito (right) delivers a speech next to Empress Michiko before an altar for those who died in World War Two, during a memorial service ceremony marking the 67th anniversary of Japan's surrender in the war at Budokan Hall in Tokyo Aug 15, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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Japanese Emperor Akihito (right) and Empress Michiko (left) offer a silent prayer during an annual memorial service to honour the dead on the 67th anniversary of Japan's surrender from World War II in Tokyo on Aug 15, 2012. -- PHOTO: AFP
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Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda (lower) walks as Emperor Akihito (top L) and Empress Michiko (top R) look on during an annual memorial service to honour the dead on the 67th anniversary of Japan's surrender from World War II in Tokyo on Aug 15, 2012. -- PHOTO: AFP
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Visitors enter the main gate of Yasukuni Shrine during a ceremony marking the 67th anniversary of the end of World War II in Tokyo Wednesday, Aug 15, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
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A veteran dressed in a military uniform, center, accompanied by a man holding a flag of the Rising Sun, a flag of old Japanese army, marches in to pay respects to the nation's war dead at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo Wednesday, Aug 15, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
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Men dressed as Japanese imperial army soldiers stand at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo Aug 15, 2012, on the 67th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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War veterans and others wearing uniforms of the Imperial Navy march at the Yasukuni shrine to honour the dead on the 67th anniversary of Japan's surrender from World War II in Tokyo on Aug 15, 2012. -- PHOTO: AFP
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A man wearing a Japanese imperial army uniform stands in the shade at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo Aug 15, 2012, on the 67th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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Visitors line up to pray at Yasukuni Shrine, a memorial honouring World War II dead, in Tokyo Wednesday, Aug 15 2012, marking the 67th anniversary of its World War II surrender. -- PHOTO: AP
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A man stands with a rising-sun flag amongst a crowd of visitors at the Yasukuni shrine to honour the dead on the 67th anniversary of Japan's surrender from World War II in Tokyo on Aug 15, 2012. -- PHOTO: AFP
Japanese Land and Transport Minister Yuichiro Hata (L) and lawmakers follow a Shinto priest during a visit to the controversial Yasukuni shrine to honour the dead on the 67th anniversary of Japan's surrender from World War II, in Tokyo on August 15, 2012. -- PHOTO: AFP
Doves are released in prayer of perpetual peace by worshippers at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo Wednesday, Aug 15, 2012. Japan marked the 67th anniversary of its World War II surrender with a somber memorial led by its emperor and other commemorations. -- PHOTO: AP
Japanese veterans and their followers clad in outdated military costume march to pay respects to the nation's war dead at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo Wednesday, Aug 15, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
Japanese veterans and their followers clad in outdated military costume march to pay respects to the nation's war dead at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo Wednesday, Aug 15, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
Japan's Emperor Akihito (right) delivers a speech next to Empress Michiko before an altar for those who died in World War Two, during a memorial service ceremony marking the 67th anniversary of Japan's surrender in the war at Budokan Hall in Tokyo Aug 15, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Japanese Emperor Akihito (right) and Empress Michiko (left) offer a silent prayer during an annual memorial service to honour the dead on the 67th anniversary of Japan's surrender from World War II in Tokyo on Aug 15, 2012. -- PHOTO: AFP
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda (lower) walks as Emperor Akihito (top L) and Empress Michiko (top R) look on during an annual memorial service to honour the dead on the 67th anniversary of Japan's surrender from World War II in Tokyo on Aug 15, 2012. -- PHOTO: AFP
Visitors enter the main gate of Yasukuni Shrine during a ceremony marking the 67th anniversary of the end of World War II in Tokyo Wednesday, Aug 15, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
A veteran dressed in a military uniform, center, accompanied by a man holding a flag of the Rising Sun, a flag of old Japanese army, marches in to pay respects to the nation's war dead at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo Wednesday, Aug 15, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
Men dressed as Japanese imperial army soldiers stand at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo Aug 15, 2012, on the 67th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
War veterans and others wearing uniforms of the Imperial Navy march at the Yasukuni shrine to honour the dead on the 67th anniversary of Japan's surrender from World War II in Tokyo on Aug 15, 2012. -- PHOTO: AFP
A man wearing a Japanese imperial army uniform stands in the shade at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo Aug 15, 2012, on the 67th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Visitors line up to pray at Yasukuni Shrine, a memorial honouring World War II dead, in Tokyo Wednesday, Aug 15 2012, marking the 67th anniversary of its World War II surrender. -- PHOTO: AP
A man stands with a rising-sun flag amongst a crowd of visitors at the Yasukuni shrine to honour the dead on the 67th anniversary of Japan's surrender from World War II in Tokyo on Aug 15, 2012. -- PHOTO: AFP
TOKYO (AFP) - Two Japanese cabinet ministers visited a shrine honouring war criminals on Wednesday on the anniversary of Tokyo's 1945 surrender, a move set to inflame feelings already running high over territorial spats.
The visits come as Japan is embroiled in a worsening dispute with South Korea over islands that lie half way between the two nations and as pro-Beijing activists attempt to land on another archipelago at the centre of a row.
Mr Jin Matsubara, who handles the issue of Japanese kidnapped by North Korea, and land minister Yuichiro Hata went separately to Yasukuni Shrine, which honours 2.5 million war dead - including 14 leading war criminals from World War II. Visits to the shrine by government ministers spark outrage in China and on the Korean peninsula, where many feel Japan has failed to atone for its brutal expansionist adventurism in the first half of the 20th century.
In a speech underlining the historical hangover, South Korean President Lee Myung Bak called on Japan to face up to responsibility for the women who were forced into sex slavery for Japanese soldiers during the war. "It was a breach of women's rights committed during wartime as well as a violation of universal human rights and historic justice. We urge the Japanese government to take responsible measures in this regard," he said.
