Japan PM Suga sends offering to Yasukuni shrine honouring millions of war victims

Japan’s new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has sent offerings to a shrine on Saturday, October 17 which honours war criminals and over 2 million war dead. According to Kyodo News, Suga sent a potted plant to the Yasukuni shrine to mark the autumn festival. Suga’s predecessor former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also in the past had sent offering to the shrine which is looked upon by Japan’s neighbours as a symbol to its past militarism.

Previous visits to Yasukuni Shrine drew backlash from neighbours

As per reports, since the Yasukuni Shrine is viewed as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism, previous visits by officials and the Prime Minister have drawn backlash from both China and South Korea. Suga reportedly previously did not send offerings to the shrine while serving as Chief Cabinet Secretary.

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Shinzo Abe reportedly visited the shrine back in September, just days after stepping down from the post of Prime Minister citing Health Reasons. While Japan’s relations with China have been steadily improving barring the dispute regarding islands in the East China Sea, Japan’s relation with South Korea have been frosty since a South Korea court ruled in 2018 that Japan owed damages to South Koreans for forced labour from 1910 and 1945. The relations between the two countries have become so tense that the disagreements have spilled into other areas such as trade.

Suga to make first foreign visit to Vietnam

Japan’s New Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is scheduled to make his first foreign visit since being appointed to the post from October 18-21. The announcement was made by Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato on Friday, October 16. Suga will be visiting Vietnam and Indonesia and one of the key aspects of the visit will be to improve security ties among the countries. Vietnam and Indonesia were also the first countries visited by Suga's predecessor, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after he came to power.

(Image: AP)

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