Yasukuni Shrine

If I had this blog thing up and runing on August 15, the anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, I would have chimed in to complain about the shallow reporting on the Prime Minister's controversial visit to Yasukuni Shrine.

The nub of my comment would have been to say the visit, paying homage to the spirits some war criminals in addition to those of fallen Imperial soldiers dating back to the year Meiji 2 (1869), was primarily about domestic politics, not international. Koizumi may be stepping down as premier, but he's young enough to want to manipulate politics from behind the scenes for years to come, in the Tanaka tradition of wire-puller. He's continuing to pander to the right wing of his party, despite the howls of protest from Beijing and Seoul, because he can't stop doing so without looking like a real lame duck. This is textbook LDP politics, shedding some light on the core of unhealthy nationalism that gives Japan's new nationalistic awakening a bad name. (Cartoon above, from the Yasukuni Shrine Web site, illustrates Japanese children learning about praying for war ghosts)

There, I've said it. Ten days too late. With the full understanding that nobody's listening. Just clearing my throat. Ahem.