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New Japan trade minister Nishimura visits controversial Yasukuni war shrine
- Yasutoshi Nishimura is the first minister known to have visited the shrine since Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government was inaugurated last October
- The shrine, which honours convicted war criminals, is seen by China and South Korea as a symbol of Japan’s past military aggression
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Industry minister Yasutoshi Nishimura on Saturday visited Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, which is seen by China and South Korea as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism.
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The Shinto shrine honours convicted war criminals along with more than 2.4 million war dead.
The visit by Nishimura, who was appointed on Wednesday as the economy, trade and industry minister in Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s new Cabinet, came ahead of the 77th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II on Monday.
Nishimura is the first minister known to have visited the shrine since the Kishida government launched October last year. No members of the Cabinet, including the prime minister, went to the shrine during its biannual festivals last October and in April.
Kishida, however, made an offering to the shrine in October, angering both China and South Korea.
“I resolved to make utmost efforts for the peace and development of Japan, also thinking of the late prime minister Shinzo Abe,” Nishimura told reporters, referring to the former leader who was fatally shot last month.
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