Japanese cabinet leader urges ministers to avoid Yasukuni Shrine

Japanese Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura on Friday urged cabinet ministers not to visit the Yasukuni Shrine, after two Japanese top politicians told reporters they will visit the shrine on Wednesday, according to Xinhua News Agency.

Experts and Chinese media said the politicians are attempting to inflame public hostility against other Asian countries in order to gain support to win Japan's upcoming election.

Zhou Yongsheng, an expert on Japanese studies at China Foreign Affairs University, believed that visiting the shrine, which honors Japan's war criminals from World War II, is an affront to China and South Korea, which have maritime and historical disputes with Japan, and will harm relations.

Fujimura said at a news briefing that his stance is in line with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's and every cabinet minister should act accordingly, a Japanese news network reported.

Fujimura said he hopes Noda and his cabinet will maintain restraint on the issue, "considering factors such as relations with other countries".

China's Foreign Ministry said it is aware of the Japanese government's stance and urges Tokyo to keep its word to avoid damaging relations with victimized countries, which suffered greatly from Japanese occupation during World War II.

However, some Japanese politicians continue to visit the shrine, and the visits have damaged Japan's relations with countries that were invaded during the war, such as China and South Korea, according to a previous Xinhua report.

Fujimura's statement shows that Japan doesn't want to worsen ties with China, especially given a recent chill in relations following Japanese provocations over the Diaoyu Islands, Zhou said.

But Zhou added that Japanese politicians will continue to play up the disputes in order to help win the election.

According to Xinhua, Japanese Transport Minister Yuichiro Hata confirmed he will visit the shrine, but added that he will not visit the shrine as a cabinet minister but as a citizen.

Hata, 45, is the son of former prime minister Tsutomu Hata, and both father and son have visited the shrine every year in the past.

If Hata visits the shrine, then he will become the first incumbent cabinet minister in the ruling Democratic Party of Japan to visit the shrine.

Meanwhile, Jin Matsubara, a member of Japan's House of Representatives, also said he is considering visiting the shrine, AFP reported.

"Since I've been going there every August for more than two decades, I'd like to decide on it appropriately," he said.

China and South Korea have criticized high-profile visits to the shrine by Japanese politicians in the past.

zhouwa@chinadaily.com.cn