Abe's cabinet member visits notorious Yasukuni Shrine

Masahiro Imamura, Japan's reconstruction minister for disaster-hit region, visited the notorious war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Wednesday, shortly after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended a memorial at the Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.


Imamura claimed that his visit to the shrine right after Abe and U.S. President Barack Obama met in the Pearl Harbor was just a "coincidence," saying that he made the decision a week ago.

Renho, leader of Japan's largest opposition Democratic Party, however, said the visit showed that "Abe administration does not appear to be united."

Imamura also visited the shrine on Aug. 11, several days before the Aug. 15 anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II (WWII).

Yasukuni Shrine honors 14 Class-A convicted war criminals among 2.5 million Japanese war dead from WWII and is regarded as a symbol of the past Japanese militarism.
 [china.org.cn/ Xinhua]
28/12/16
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