Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sent a ritual offering, a “masakaki” tree, to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on October 17, 2021, to celebrate the shrine’s twice-yearly festival held in the spring and autumn. The move has angered China and South Korea, which both see the shrine as a symbol of Japan’s militaristic past. Chinese state media the Global Times said that Kishida made a “bad start” with the offering, which “demonstrated again the rise of right-wing conservative forces in Tokyo”. South Korea’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement expressing “deep disappointment and regret that Japan's responsible leaders made offerings or repeated visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, which glorifies Japan's war of aggression and enshrines war criminals.” Kishida’s predecessor, Yoshihide Suga, who also sent ritual offerings during his one-year tenure, this time paid a visit to the shrine.
Video source: Reuters
