Miki Visits Yasukuni: Japanese PM Ignites Wartime Debate

Prime Minister Takeo Miki visited Yasukuni Shrine on August 15, 1975, the thirtieth anniversary of Japan's surrender, making him the first sitting prime minister to visit the shrine on that date. Yasukuni enshrines the souls of approximately 2.5 million Japanese war dead, including soldiers, nurses, and civilians who died in service to the emperor from the Boshin War of 1868 through World War II. The shrine became internationally controversial in 1978 when fourteen Class A war criminals, including wartime Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, were secretly added to the registry of enshrined souls by the shrine's head priest. Miki visited in what he described as a "private capacity," a distinction that subsequent prime ministers have attempted with varying degrees of credibility. The visit established a pattern that has repeated for decades. Every subsequent prime ministerial visit has triggered formal protests from China and South Korea, whose populations suffered enormously under Japanese military occupation. China views the visits as evidence that Japan has never fully reckoned with its wartime aggression. Japan's political right views the shrine as a legitimate memorial to the nation's war dead and considers foreign objections an intrusion on domestic sovereignty. Emperor Hirohito stopped visiting Yasukuni after the war criminals were enshrined, and no emperor has visited since. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made annual visits from 2001 to 2006, freezing Japan-China relations for the duration. The shrine remains one of the most persistent flashpoints in East Asian diplomacy.