Explainer: Yasukuni is a shrine for Japanese war criminals. Here's why

BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- On almost every Aug. 15, the anniversary of Japan's unconditional surrender in World War II, Tokyo's notorious Yasukuni Shrine becomes a stage for acts by Japanese politicians that predictably inflame anger across Asia and beyond. This year was no exception. Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and other politicians visited the shrine, while Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi opted for a distant bow and a monetary offering, a ritual that has become almost routine over the years. Unsurprisingly, the visits drew swift condemnation from neighboring countries. The South Korean Foreign Ministry deplored the "repeated anachronistic acts," while its Chinese counterpart said visiting the "shrine for war criminals" is "an affront to historical justice, a challenge to the foundational norms of civilization, and a provocation against the postwar international order." What makes Yasukuni such a despicable place? Why is it so detested by the neighboring countries? And what ties does it have to Japanese militarism? WHO ARE THE ENSHRINED? Amid the upheaval of the Meiji Restoration, which began in 1868, the Yasukuni Shrine was initially built by the order of Emperor Meiji to honor those who died in the civil war that paved the way for Japan's modernization -- and militarism. Originally called Shokonsha, dedicated to the spirits of the war dead, the shrine was later renamed Yasukuni, meaning to "preserve peace for the entire nation." Today, Yasukuni presents itself as a "shrine of peace," enshrining 2.47 million "divinities" who it says "sacrificed their lives in the course of fulfilling their public duty to protect their motherland." Notably, 2.13 million souls contributed to Japan's aggression in World War II. In the shrine's own account, regardless of their rank, social status and historical role, all are honored equally and "worshipped as venerable divinities." However, among those "divinities" hide 14 World War II Class-A war criminals -- all convicted at the Tokyo War Crimes Trials and sentenced to penalties ranging from death to imprisonment -- including seven who were executed, five who died while serving their sentences and two who died before final judgment. The war criminals were surreptitiously enshrined in the Yasukuni Shrine in 1978, an act carried out without public disclosure and remained hidden until April 19, 1979, when major newspapers finally brought it to light. Together with those convicted under Class B and C categories, Yasukuni commemorates over 1,000 war criminals in total, who are responsible for some of the most horrific atrocities committed in the Asia Pacific. Yet, in line with the Japanese government's position, Yasukuni refuses to deem them as criminals under domestic law. WHAT DID THEY DO? Hideki Tojo, Japan's prime minister during World War II, ranks among the 14 Class-A war criminals. It was under his leadership that Japan launched its aggression, where millions across the Asia-Pacific were brutally killed. Warfare soon engulfed much of East and Southeast Asia, pushing as far as British-controlled India. Across these occupied territories, Japanese militarists launched large-scale massacres, enforced forced labor and wrought widespread devastation. Of the 14 Class-A war criminals enshrined at Yasukuni, 13 were directly involved in Japan's war of aggression against China or bore major responsibility for shaping and implementing its invasion policies. Among them was Iwane Matsui, who ordered the Nanjing Massacre in December 1937, one of the most brutal atrocities in Chinese history. Over the weeks, Japanese soldiers carried out his orders and slaughtered over 300,000 civilians and disarmed soldiers -- shot, stabbed, buried alive, or drowned. Furthermore, over 20,000 women were raped. Japanese troops looted and burned the city, destroying more than a third of the buildings. According to the International Military Tribunal for the Far East Judgment, the Japanese military perpetrated over 100 large-scale massacres in places like Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar and Thailand, many commanded by Class-A war criminals. In the Philippines, Akira Muto oversaw the Manila Massacre, in which roughly 100,000 Filipino civilians were killed. Meanwhile, Heitaro Kimura, dubbed the "Butcher of Burma," presided over the construction of the Thai-Burma "Death Railway," which was built by forced laborers from Myanmar, Malaysia and Australia, resulting in some 100,000 deaths. The atrocities of the "venerable divinities" enshrined in Yasukuni extend far beyond the battlefield to include the forced imposition of Japanese-language education across occupied lands, the sexual enslavement of women and girls, the biological warfare and human experimentation carried out by Unit 731 ... the list goes on. WHY DO VISITS DRAW OUTRAGE? Historical revisionism and persistent whitewashing of Japan's wartime culpability are embodied in the shrine, that's why every political visit sparks immediate regional fury. Inside its Yushukan museum, Japan's wartime past is unabashedly sanitized: Imperial conquest is framed as Asian liberation, and atrocities are systematically brushed aside. The Nanjing Massacre is reduced to a brief line of prosecuting "Chinese soldiers disguised in civilian clothes." The death-ridden Thai-Burma Railway is celebrated merely for its engineering utility. To Japan's neighbors, Yasukuni stands as an unhealed historical trauma, a monument to historical revisionism and a spiritual symbol of Japanese militarism. However, Sanae Takaichi said in a recent book of interviews that Japan's problem is not its atrocities, but that it simply lost the war. "If Japan had won the war, Japan probably wouldn't be blamed by anyone now, and those who started the war would be heroes," said the prime minister. "When victors judge the vanquished, it creates an enduring misery of defeat and hardship for future generations. Yet I believe it is wrong for the Japanese people to apologize endlessly simply for being born Japanese." A regular visitor to the Yasukuni Shrine, the firebrand nationalist Takaichi has long denied well-documented Japanese war crimes, including the Nanjing Massacre and the forcible conscription of "comfort women" and laborers. Despite fierce pushback from the right, Haruki Murakami, a world-famous Japanese writer, remains an outspoken critic of historical whitewashing. Pointing explicitly to the Nanjing Massacre in his novel, he argued that distorting history only self-torments, insisting that Japan must "keep apologizing until the oppressed countries accept it." Experts highlighted that even 81 years after its World War II defeat, Japan has failed to answer fundamental questions about its aggression and responsibility, revealing a lack of remorse and a distorted understanding of history. Frank Schumann, a German publisher and writer, told Xinhua that while Germany confiscated the assets of Nazi officials and war criminals, removed "Nazi remnants" from the education and judicial systems, and introduced anti-fascist education, Japan still enshrines Class-A war criminals and refers to its atrocities committed against Chinese people as "incidents." "Japan has not truly reflected on its history of aggression to this day," Schumann said.