Japan defence minister's Yasukuni visit draws China protest

China protested after Japan's Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi visited Yasukuni shrine on August 15, the 81st anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, while Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi stayed away.

China's foreign ministry said it “strongly condemns” Takaichi's reported offering to the shrine and ministers' visit there, and said Beijing had lodged strong protests with Japan.

Yasukuni is dedicated to 2.5 million war dead, mostly Japanese. They include convicted war criminals involved in Imperial Japan's invasion and occupation of parts of Asia in the 1930s and 1940s. Japan's neighbours have long viewed visits by senior politicians to the shrine as a symbol of Japan's failure to atone for wartime atrocities.

Koizumi left the shrine without answering reporters' questions. He later wrote on Instagram that he had visited to “offer his sincere condolences to the heroic spirits who sacrificed their precious lives for the nation”. He added that, along with Japan's vow to renounce war, he had reaffirmed a determination to uphold Japan's postwar path as a peaceful nation.

Local media reported that Takaichi sent an offering to the shrine, as previous prime ministers have done. She also sent an offering for a spring festival earlier this year.

There had been speculation that Takaichi, a regular visitor before becoming prime minister in October, might attend. Her mentor, then-prime minister Shinzo Abe, visited Yasukuni in 2013, angering China and South Korea and drawing a rare rebuke from the United States.

Koizumi has long visited Yasukuni, including as a government minister, but Saturday was his first visit as defence chief. Japanese defence ministers have visited before, most recently Minoru Kihara in 2024. Koizumi's father, former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi, was the last sitting prime minister to visit Yasukuni on the August 15 anniversary, in 2006.

The visit came amid tensions between Japan and China. Takaichi, seen before taking office as a China hawk, angered Beijing by suggesting in November that Japan could intervene militarily in any conflict over Taiwan. China says Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to annex the self-ruled island.

China has since warned its citizens against travel to Japan, imposed trade restrictions and conducted regular patrols around disputed islands. A day before the surrender anniversary, Senior Colonel Chen Xi, a spokesperson for China's defence ministry, urged Japan to “recognise and atone for its crimes” and stop what he called dangerous remilitarisation.

Yasukuni this week asked visitors not to wear military-style uniforms so the public could worship in peace. An AFP reporter estimated that about 20 to 30 people in uniforms were at the shrine on Saturday.