Âé¶¹´«Ã½

Tag - yasukuni-shrine

 
 

YASUKUNI SHRINE

A visit to Yasukuni Shrine by the Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi would almost certainly draw a strong reaction from China and pose a significant obstacle to holding a summit between the leaders of Japan and China.
JAPAN
Aug 12, 2026
Takaichi unlikely to visit Yasukuni Shrine on war anniversary
The Shinto shrine is regarded by neighboring Asian countries such as South Korea and China as a symbol of Âé¶¹´«Ã½ wartime militarism.
On Aug. 14, 2001, the front page of The Japan Times featured one of the defining images of Junichiro Koizumi's premiership: the prime minister leaving Yasukuni Shrine after a controversial visit that reignited debates over Japan's wartime past and strained relations with its Asian neighbors.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Aug 3, 2026
Japan Times 2001: Koizumi visits Yasukuni early
Additionally, our archives feature more coverage on the Lockheed scandal and the creation of NHK.
Economic growth strategy minister Minoru Kiuchi speaks to reporters as he visits Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 22, 2026
Minister¡¯s offering at Yasukuni first shrine visit by Takaichi Cabinet member
Economic growth strategy minister Minoru Kiuchi signed a visitor¡¯s book as a minister and offered a tamagushi sacred tree branch at his own expense.
An offering sent by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi for the spring festival at Yasukuni Shrine, in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward, on Tuesday
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 21, 2026
Takaichi risks China¡¯s wrath with offering to Yasukuni Shrine
The prime minister¡¯s offering of a sacred tree was made on the first day of a traditional spring festival.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 17, 2026
Takaichi to skip Yasukuni visit during spring festival
Takaichi has rarely missed visiting the Shinto shrine during its spring and autumn festivals, including while serving as internal affairs minister and in other Cabinet posts.
Flowering cherry blossoms and buds from a sample Somei Yoshino cherry tree at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo earlier this month
JAPAN
Mar 29, 2026
Cherry blossoms are now in full bloom in Tokyo
The Japan Meteorological Agency¡¯s announcement came three days earlier than average and two days earlier than last year.
Flowering cherry blossoms and buds from a sample Somei Yoshino cherry tree at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2026
Tokyo¡¯s cherry blossom season officially begins
The cherry season for Tokyo starts when the official sample tree at Yasukuni Shrine opens at least five flowers.
Claims by China that Japan is returning to militarism are misleading because legal and institutional constraints make such a shift unlikely and current defense reforms reflect practical responses to changing regional threats.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 20, 2026
Debunking the myth of Japanese militarism
It is necessary to be clear on this point: Japan in 2026 is not the Japan of 1936.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks at a news conference at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo on Feb. 9 following the party's landslide victory in a Lower House election the day before.
JAPAN
Feb 16, 2026
Takaichi declared ¡®world¡¯s most powerful woman¡¯ by The Economist
Following the success in the Feb. 8 Lower House election, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi now ¡°has a historic chance to transform her country,¡± the British magazine said.
A visitor makes his way to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine on the first day of its annual autumn festival on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 20, 2025
Takaichi skips Yasukuni visit during autumn festival
With a vote on the next prime minister set for Tuesday, the new LDP president apparently took into account the possibility that any visit could adversely impact foreign affairs.
Past visits by top Japanese leaders to Yasukuni Shrine, which also honors convicted war criminals, have infuriated China and South Korea, and no prime minister has visited since 2013.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 17, 2025
Takaichi sends offering to Yasukuni Shrine but will not visit
Top Japanese leaders visiting the shrine also honoring convicted war criminals have infuriated China and South Korea in the past, and no prime minister has visited since 2013.
Sanae Takaichi visits Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Aug. 15, before she was elected the leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party earlier this month.
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2025
Over 40% back Takaichi visiting Yasukuni Shrine, poll shows
Sanae Takaichi, leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, has repeatedly visited the shrine, which enshrines Class-A war criminals from World War II among the war dead.
Sanae Takaichi speaks to reporters on Aug. 15, the 80th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, following her visit to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 8, 2025
Takaichi may skip Yasukuni visit during Autumn Festival
The new LDP chief is apparently taking into account the impact a visit might have ahead of busy diplomatic schedule and how it could hurt relations with coalition partner Komeito.
Lawmakers from both chambers of Japan's parliament who are members of a league of parliamentarians promoting Yasukuni Shrine visits walk inside the shrine in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 15, 2025
Cabinet ministers Koizumi and Kato visit Yasukuni Shrine
The visits marked the sixth consecutive year a Cabinet minister has visited the war-related shrine on the anniversary.
A carrier-based Type 52 Zero fighter marks the entrance foyer of Yasukuni Shrine's Yushukan, a museum that tells a more nuanced story of Japan's experience in World War II than the controversies around the shrine might suggest.
LIFE / Travel
Aug 8, 2025
Tokyo¡¯s WWII museums hold diverse views on war and peace
From detainees in Soviet labor camps to last-ditch efforts to develop miracle weapons, the capital¡¯s war museums tell a multitude of stories of a country in crisis.
People pray during a visit to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Aug. 15, the 79th anniversary of Japan's surrender during World War II.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 20, 2025
Why only Japan is criticized for honoring its war dead
Other countries honor the ultimate sacrifice regardless of whether the war was just, later judged a mistake or involved actions that could be seen as war crimes.
A "masakaki" tree offering bearing the name of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is put up at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2025
Ishiba gives a ritual tree offering to Yasukuni Shrine
Ishiba has no plans to visit the shrine during its three-day spring festival.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 18, 2025
Ishiba not to visit Yasukuni Shrine during spring festival
No sitting prime minister has paid a visit to the shrine since December 2013, when Shinzo Abe did so.
The cherry blossoms at Inokashira Park in Tokyo on Thursday
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2025
Cherry blossoms come into full bloom in Tokyo
On Sunday, monitored sample cherry trees reached full bloom also in the cities of Wakayama and Matsuyama, both western Japan.
The entrance to Yasukuni Shrine in central Tokyo on Dec. 1
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2024
Chinese man sentenced for vandalizing Yasukuni Shrine
According to the ruling, Jiang Zhuojun, 29, conspired with two other Chinese men to write ¡°toilet¡± in red spray paint on a pillar at the shrine.

Longform

Disaster relief workers Taichi Kato (left) and Seiji Yoshimura enter the collapsed living quarters at Kyuganji temple in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.
What Kumamoto revealed about Âé¶¹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN