Kan's govt refuses war shrine visit

By Wang Zhaokun

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan refrained from visiting the Yasukuni Shrine Sunday and apologized for Japan's past of militarism to mark the 65th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II.

Kan and Emperor Akihito, whose father Hirohito surrendered 65 years ago, attended a memorial service at Budokan hall in Tokyo.

"During the war, Japan inflicted significant damage and pain on many countries, especially the people of Asian countries," Kan said. "I deeply regret that and express my sincere condolences to the victims and their families."

All ministers of Kan's cabinet shunned the war-related shrine as well.

It has been the first time since 1985 that no cabinet members of the Japanese government visited the Shinto shrine on August 15, the anniversary of Japan's surrender.

The cabinet's refrain from the shrine is another decision made by the Japanese government to appease its Asian neighbors. Kan last week apologized for the country's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

However, the mood of rapprochement was not shared across the Japanese political spectrum, as around 40 Japanese legislators and politicians paid a visit to the shrine Sunday. Among the visitors were former prime minister Shinzo Abe and the opposition's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) president, Sadakazu Tanigaki.

Liu Jiangyong, vice president at the Institute of International Studies of Tsinghua University, said that it has been a consistent policy of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) to oppose visiting the shrine.

"Kan's decision to shun the shrine is in line with the policy of the DPJ," he said. "Unlike the LDP, the DPJ does not rely on conservative voters, and it doesn't have much to worry about in making the decision."

"The influence of the shrine on Japan's politics is expected to decrease in the future as more Japanese politicians will realize that visiting the shrine hurts Japan's interests," Liu added.

Meanwhile, a group of European far-right politicians, including Le Pen, leader of the French National Front, visited the shrine Saturday after being invited by the Japanese nationalist group Issuikai.

Adam Walker of the British National Party, and other far-right politicians from Austria, Portugal, Spain, Hungary, Romania and Belgium, joined Le Pen at the shrine.

Agencies contributed to this story