Japanese lawmakers visit controversial Yasukuni Shrine for first time in 2 years

Dec 08, 2021 | News On Japan

Dec 08, 2021 (South China Morning Post) - A group of nearly 100 Japanese lawmakers visited the Yasukuni Shrine – a controversial symbol of Japanese imperialism and a reminder of its wartime atrocities – on December 7, 2021.

It was the first visit by Japanese politicians in two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The shrine honours 2.5 million Japanese soldiers killed in World War II, including more than a dozen convicted war criminals like General Hideki Tojo. The shrine has been a source of diplomatic tension in the past, with China and South Korea citing official visits to Yasukuni as symbolic of Japan’s ongoing refusal to fully atone for its legacy of brutality in the region.

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