TOKYO -- Some 80 Japanese lawmakers on Friday defied a massive international outcry over the country's approach to its history and paid their respects at a controversial Shinto shrine housing memorials to convicted war criminals including the country’s wartime leader.
The MPs, who were marking a semi-annual event at the Yasukuni Shrine, were part of a parliamentary group dedicated to visiting the site. It was made up of 49 lawmakers from the lower house and 31 from the upper house, including former House of Representatives speaker Watanuki Tamisuke and former LDP secretary general Koga Makoto. Two MPs from the opposition Democratic Party of Japan were also part of the group. Another 80 lawmakers sent representatives.
"Each country has its own religion, history and culture, and praying for the war dead is natural," the group's deputy leader, former transport minister Fujii Takao, said. He said international outrage particularly in China over Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to the shrine were an attempt to find a political motive for religious visits and “an assault on friendly ties.” The group, formed in 1981, makes three pilgrimages to the shrine annually. Last year, 50 lawmakers including three serving ministers visited the shrine to mark the anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II.
Meanwhile, Kanagawa Governor Shigefumi Matsuzawa visited the March 1 Independence Movement Martyrdom Hall in Jeamri, Hwaseong at the invitation of Gyeonggi Province. Accompanied by Gyeonggi Governor Sohn Hak-kyu, the Japanese governor toured the memorial hall dedicated to resistance to the Japanese occupation of Korea after spending about 10 minutes laying down flowers and burning incense for the 23 independence fighters.
"Between nations, there are good times and bad, but I believe bilateral ties will develop well,” Matsuzawa said. “Promoting exchanges between our two provinces must help improve the relationship between the two nations" recently soured over the history dispute and Japanese claims to Korea’s Dokdo islets.
(Jung Kwon-hyeon, khjung@chosun.com)
