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Abe's wife visiting shrine raises ire
The photo of the entrance of Yasukuni Shrine is posted on the Facebook page of Akie Abe, wife of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, after her visit to the shrine, Monday, when Korea and Japan reached an agreement to resolve disputes over Japan’s wartime sexual slavery. / Captured from Facebook
By Lee Kyung-min
By Lee Kyung-min
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s wife said she visited the Yasukuni Shrine, Monday, the same day Korea and Japan reached a deal over sexual slavery of Korean and other women, igniting doubts over the sincerity of Japan’s apology.
Akie Abe, Japan’s first lady, posted a Facebook update with two photos of the shrine, a national memorial that honors Japan’s 2.46 million war dead, including 14 Class-A war criminals.
She wrote, “Only a few days are left for the year 2015, the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. This is my last visit here this year.”
Abe wrote similar posts in May and August. In May’s Facebook post, she wrote that she was “thankful” to be living in a peaceful and prosperous Japan.
Her visit drew skepticism about whether her husband’s apology was sincere. Many critics in Korea also disapprove of her actively publicizing the visit by posting her pictures of it on her social networking service channels.
“Her visit is seen as an obvious effort to undercut the latest deal between the two countries,” said an official from the House of Sharing, a shelter for Japanese sex slavery victims in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province.
Some Japanese media said her move was aimed at soothing opposition by a large number of Japanese ultra right-wing conservatives, Abe’s political base.
Visits to Yasukuni by Japanese prime ministers have long been a point of contention with Korea as well as China, which regard that the visits demonstrate a lack of remorse for Japanese wartime atrocities during World War II.
Prime Minister Abe’s last visit there was on Dec. 26, 2013.
On Oct. 20 this year, when a large number of Japanese high-ranking government officials, including the justice minister, visited the shrine for its annual seasonal ceremony, Abe did not attend in person, but sent a “masakaki” tree as an offering to the shrine.