Honoring war criminals

last updated 8 January 2015

Tokyo

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi defied foreign criticism this week to visit a shrine that honors fallen Japanese soldiers, including some notorious war criminals. Gen. Hideki Tojo, for example, whose name was added to the shrine in 1978, is considered responsible for the slaughter of some 8 million people in China, Korea, Philippines, and Indochina. Koizumi’s visits to Yasukuni Shrine in past years stirred violent protests in South Korea and China, and this trip was even more provocative because it occurred on the anniversary of the end of World War II. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Koizumi’s act “has greatly hurt the feelings of the victims of Japanese military aggression and destroyed the political foundation of the China-Japan relationship.”