Arya News - PM Takaichi enjoys strong ties with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, but a shrine visit would likely strain them. With improving relations with China also a top priority, she concluded the conditions for a visit aren’t yet right.
TOKYO – Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi ultimately elected not to visit Yasukuni Shrine on Saturday, the 81st anniversary of the end of World War II, apparently in a bid to avoid diplomatic tensions with China and South Korea. Despite calls from her conservative supporters to visit during her tenure as prime minister, Takaichi instead bowed toward the shrine from a distance.
Takaichi stepped out of her car on Saturday morning in a parking lot for the Nippon Budokan hall, about 200 meters away from the shrine. She performed the traditional ritual of two bows, two claps and then another bow in the direction of Yasukuni, before participating in Japan’s annual memorial to commemorate the war dead at Nippon Budokan.
The prime minister later told people around her, “If I can’t visit [Yasukuni Shrine], I will offer prayers in the proper manner from a distance.”
A Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker who is close to Takaichi said, “I believe she expressed as much as possible her desire to visit the shrine.”
LDP Secretary General Shunichi Suzuki visited the shrine on Saturday and presented Takaichi’s cash offering, made in her capacity as LDP president. “I deeply understand President Takaichi’s thoughts about heroically fallen soldiers,” Suzuki later told journalists.
Before taking office as prime minister, Takaichi regularly visited the shrine on Aug. 15, the anniversary of the war’s end, and also went during its festivals held in autumn and spring.
Takaichi continued this while serving as a government minister. When she ran for LDP president in 2024, Takaichi said, “I will visit Yasukuni Shrine as prime minister.”
However, in last year’s presidential race, Takaichi refused to give a clear answer about whether she would continue to visit Yasukuni Shrine after taking office. She only said, “I’ll make an appropriate decision.”
In February, Takaichi said, “My goal is to create an environment to obtain understanding from our allies and neighboring countries” about a prime minister visiting Yasukuni Shrine.
Takaichi has a good relationship with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, but it is believed that visiting the shrine would inevitably damage their ties. Also, one of Takaichi’s top priorities is to improve Japan’s strained ties with China. These circumstances led her to conclude that the proper environment for a visit has not been established.
However, some LDP members strongly want her to visit Yasukuni Shrine.
Akihisa Nagashima, a former special advisor to the prime minister, said Saturday upon his visit, “It’s a vital issue for politicians to strive to normalize the situation [so that a prime minister can visit Yasukuni].”
Takaichi will likely continue to be pressed to make a decision about visiting Yasukuni Shrine while taking into account both diplomatic considerations and pressure from her conservative supporters.
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