Sanae Takaichi omits remorse in memorial address as officials visit Yasukuni

On August 15, the anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made notable moves regarding the Yasukuni Shrine. While she did not visit the shrine in person, she submitted a private offering known as ‘tamagushi’ in her capacity as President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) rather than as Prime Minister. This distinction is viewed as an attempt to avoid direct diplomatic friction with neighboring countries like South Korea and China.

In her official memorial address at the National Memorial Service for the War Dead, Takaichi omitted traditional expressions of ‘remorse’ and the ‘pledge of non-war,’ which had been included by her predecessor. Instead, she focused on security and Japan's role as a “shining lighthouse in the Indo-Pacific.”

Despite the Prime Minister's absence from the shrine, several high-ranking cabinet members, including Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, visited Yasukuni. This marks the seventh consecutive year that active Japanese ministers have visited the site, which remains controversial due to the enshrinement of Class-A war criminals. The visits drew strong condemnation from the Chinese government, which characterized the actions as a “provocation against the post-war international order.”