August 15, 2016, marks the day Japan surrendered to the combined forces of the Republic of China and the United States in World War II, and the historical moment when Taiwan Province (commonly known as the Japanese Occupation Era), which had been occupied for $50$ years, was about to return to the embrace of the Republic of China.
This year, the Japanese government, as usual, held the “National Ceremony to Mourn the War Dead” in Tokyo, with Emperor Akihito, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and $5,900$ other people attending the memorial service. Meanwhile, Yasukuni Shrine on the other side of Tokyo was bustling with people. Every August $15$th, Yasukuni Shrine holds a large-scale memorial event, attracting many Japanese senior officials and politicians, and people of various stripes gather around the shrine.
Abe took an unprecedented two vacations within one month.
In order to cleverly find an excuse not to visit, Abe took an unprecedented second summer vacation after his July break, leaving Tokyo early on August $9$th for his villa at the foot of Mount Fuji.
It is said that Abe would spend the remainder of his summer vacation at the villa, only participating in the “National Ceremony to Mourn the War Dead” on the $15$th. Although he did not personally visit, Abe still instructed his aide to offer the ritual donation, tamagushi-ryō (玉串料), to Yasukuni Shrine.
Tomomi Inada, who never missed it, “tearfully” opts out of worship this year.
In addition to senior Diet officials, local council members also visited in groups.
Each council member hoisted a large green banner bearing their name, and a crowd marched forward singing songs.
It is unclear whether they came to worship at the temple or to canvas for votes.
Other attendees included Chiba Prefecture Governor Kensaku Morita, LDP President’s Special Assistant Yasutoshi Nishimura, Party for Future Generations leader Kyoko Nakayama, and former Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, all of whom came to “worship the ghosts.”
Shinjiro Koizumi, Chairman of the LDP Agriculture and Forestry Division.
Besides Japanese right-wing elements, a small handful of “spiritual Japanese” from Taiwan also came to pay respects to the Japanese.
This is a representative group from the “Taiwan Civil Government,” an organization that recently gained notoriety due to the Hung Su-chu incident of verbally abusing elderly KMT veterans. The “Taiwan Civil Government” claims that Taiwan is currently under temporary military occupation by the “US Military Government,” that Taiwan still “belongs” to Japan, and that Taiwan should “revert” to Japanese rule.
Given that Iwata Masao (Lee Teng-hui) once visited Yasukuni Shrine in $2007$ to pay respects to his own brother, Iwata Taketora, the visit by some Taiwanese is not entirely unexpected.
Some Japanese citizens wander around Yasukuni Shrine wearing old Imperial Japanese Army uniforms.
In response, the Japanese government issued a strong protest. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga commented, “It is truly regrettable. Ahn Jung-geun was a convicted terrorist sentenced to death. This series of actions by China and South Korea contributes nothing to building regional peace.”
Setting aside the fact that Ahn Jung-geun was secretly hanged by the Japanese invaders, which is fundamentally different from a WWII war criminal, even according to the Japanese “terrorist” logic, they apparently do know that commemorating a “criminal” contributes nothing to regional peace.
This is a Japanese man wearing a uniform imitating that of Nazi Germany. He called on the German Chancellor to visit the German war cemetery, suggesting that Germany should learn from its former ally, Japan, in this regard.