Japan's Prime Minister is defending the right of his government ministers to pay tribute to their war dead. But it’s not for the first time that a visit to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine by dozens of government ministers and MPs has enraged South Korea and China.
The shrine commemorates Japan's war dead, including war criminals. Beijing and Seoul say the MPs' visit undermines Japan's claim that it's turned its back on its militaristic past.
The protesters gathered on the streets of the South Korean capital Seoul to denounce this week's visit by Japanese MPs to the Yasukuni Shrine. In the Chinese capital Beijing there was also anger.
“The nature of these visits the Yasukuni shrine is a denial of Japan's past military aggression,” says Hua Chunying, the Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman.
Many Japanese lawmakers see these visits as a sign of their patriotism. But others, such as the Chinese and Koreans, see it as a sign of their refusal to learn from wartime mistakes.
The Yasukuni shrine is home to kami or souls of 2.5 million Japanese war dead... it’s also home for war criminals. Among those whose soul supposedly inhabits this place is Hideki Tojo who was prime minister for most of the war.
Tojo was found guilty by tht International Military Tribunal for the Far East of waging wars of aggression and of war crimes – he was later hanged.
But Japan's prime minister today, Shinzo Abe, sees no problem with his ministers and MPs visiting Yasukuni Shrine.
“I do feel that it's strange that someone who goes to visit and honour the spirits of the dead at this shrine get criticised for it. It's my job to protect our pride, which rests on history and tradition.”
There's no doubt PM Abe feels strongly about this.
His grandfather was a minister in Tojo's cabinet during the war. He was later held as a Class A war crimes suspect but he was later released without charge.
His grandson, the current PM, believes Japan has been treated unfairly when it comes to its war time history.
“It's only natural to honour the spirits of those who gave their lives for the country. Our ministers will not cave in to any threats.”
But 68 years after the end of the war in the Pacific, many wounds remain raw.