Recent visits by three members of the Abe Cabinet to Yasukuni Shrine — which enshrines Japan's some 2.5 million war dead plus convicted Class-A war criminals from World War II — show that they and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe — who permitted them to go — place more importance on their own personal ideological desires than on creating a regional atmosphere that would maximize Japan's ability to advance its national interests and achieve its foreign policy goals.
Internal affairs minister Mr. Yoshitaka Shindo visited Yasukuni on April 20 and Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso and National Public Safety Commission Chairman Keiji Furuya on April 21. Although Mr. Abe did not visit the shrine, he made an offering of a masakaki tree branch, which is used in some Shinto rituals.
The blowback from the Yasukuni visits came immediately. South Korea canceled its foreign minister's visit to Tokyo this week, and the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated, "As long as Japan does not face up to the history of its aggression, it cannot embrace the future and develop friendly relations with its Asian neighbors."