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Japan's top stories: Koizumi ruffles foreign feathers
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi prays at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine in October. (Mainichi)Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's insistence on paying his respects to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country put Japan's relations with two of its biggest neighbors in a prickly spot during 2005.
China and South Korea were outraged when the prime minister paid homage at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Oct. 17, the most recent of annual trips Koizumi has made since assuming the mantle of Japan's leadership in April 2001.
Yasukuni enshrines Japan's war dead, including those found guilty of war crimes at the early postwar Tokyo Military Tribunal.
Koizumi, who has apologized repeatedly for Japanese aggression in World War II including an instance in August to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of the conflict, maintains he visits the shrine for "spiritual reasons."
"I am praying for peace as a human being," he said during the East Asia Summit in Malaysia earlier this month, before later adding: "It is absolutely not to glorify or justify war."
Nonetheless, the same summit highlighted how neighbors have reacted to Koizumi's visits. Both South Korea and China refused one-on-one meetings with Koizumi, as they had done in the preceding ASEAN meeting, while a leaders' meeting normally held with the countries was also called off.
China has pulled off a few petty diplomatic slurs of its own, with Vice Premier Wu Yi's last-minute cancellation of a May meeting with Koizumi followed by Premier Wen Jinbao initially pretending not to hear Koizumi's request to borrow his pen in Kuala Lumpur. But Wen at least signaled what he believes Japan must do to improve flailing ties, saying Koizumi paying homage at Yasukuni "deeply hurt the feeling of the Chinese people."
Japanese haven't sat by idly. Anti-Japanese riots on the mainland in April did not go down well, especially as many perceived the Chinese government's response tepid at best.
Nationalism is on the rise. Anti-Chinese, anti-Korean manga are selling well. Politicians have refused to allocate funds for an alternative to Yasukuni and now they're asking for Japan's Defense Agency to be upgraded to a fully fledged ministry.
Yet, at the same time, economic and cultural ties between Japan and China and Japan and South Korea have reached unprecedented levels, raising well founded hopes that ties between the countries will improve. (By Ryann Connell)
* This story was selected by the MSN-Mainichi Daily News editorial team in 6th place on the list of Japan's top 10 stories for 2005.
Japan's top stories: Koizumi ruffles foreign feathers
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi prays at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine in October. (Mainichi)Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's insistence on paying his respects to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country put Japan's relations with two of its biggest neighbors in a prickly spot during 2005.
China and South Korea were outraged when the prime minister paid homage at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Oct. 17, the most recent of annual trips Koizumi has made since assuming the mantle of Japan's leadership in April 2001.
Yasukuni enshrines Japan's war dead, including those found guilty of war crimes at the early postwar Tokyo Military Tribunal.
Koizumi, who has apologized repeatedly for Japanese aggression in World War II including an instance in August to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of the conflict, maintains he visits the shrine for "spiritual reasons."
"I am praying for peace as a human being," he said during the East Asia Summit in Malaysia earlier this month, before later adding: "It is absolutely not to glorify or justify war."
Nonetheless, the same summit highlighted how neighbors have reacted to Koizumi's visits. Both South Korea and China refused one-on-one meetings with Koizumi, as they had done in the preceding ASEAN meeting, while a leaders' meeting normally held with the countries was also called off.
China has pulled off a few petty diplomatic slurs of its own, with Vice Premier Wu Yi's last-minute cancellation of a May meeting with Koizumi followed by Premier Wen Jinbao initially pretending not to hear Koizumi's request to borrow his pen in Kuala Lumpur. But Wen at least signaled what he believes Japan must do to improve flailing ties, saying Koizumi paying homage at Yasukuni "deeply hurt the feeling of the Chinese people."
Japanese haven't sat by idly. Anti-Japanese riots on the mainland in April did not go down well, especially as many perceived the Chinese government's response tepid at best.
Nationalism is on the rise. Anti-Chinese, anti-Korean manga are selling well. Politicians have refused to allocate funds for an alternative to Yasukuni and now they're asking for Japan's Defense Agency to be upgraded to a fully fledged ministry.
Yet, at the same time, economic and cultural ties between Japan and China and Japan and South Korea have reached unprecedented levels, raising well founded hopes that ties between the countries will improve. (By Ryann Connell)
* This story was selected by the MSN-Mainichi Daily News editorial team in 6th place on the list of Japan's top 10 stories for 2005.
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