Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09TOKYO1841
2009-08-12 08:33:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Tokyo
Cable title:
JAPAN: GOVERNMENT SIDESTEPPING YASUKUNI VISITS
how-toVZCZCXRO0460 RR RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHGH RUEHPB RUEHVC DE RUEHKO #1841 2240833 ZNY CCCCC ZZH R 120833Z AUG 09 FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5343 INFO RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE 9650 RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 6355 RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA 5841 RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA 8172 RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC RUEKJCS/CJCS WASHINGTON DC RHMFISS/USFJ RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L TOKYO 001841
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR EAP/J, EAP/CM
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/12/2019
TAGS: CH JA
SUBJECT: JAPAN: GOVERNMENT SIDESTEPPING YASUKUNI VISITS
REF: A. AUGUST 11 2009 DAR
B. TOKYO 958
Classified By: CDA James P. Zumwalt for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
C O N F I D E N T I A L TOKYO 001841
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR EAP/J, EAP/CM
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/12/2019
TAGS: CH JA
SUBJECT: JAPAN: GOVERNMENT SIDESTEPPING YASUKUNI VISITS
REF: A. AUGUST 11 2009 DAR
B. TOKYO 958
Classified By: CDA James P. Zumwalt for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
1. (C) SUMMARY: Prime Minister Aso and most of his Cabinet
are signaling their decision to forgo August 15 visits to the
controversial Yasukuni Shrine. In keeping with his longtime
opposition to ministerial Shrine visits, Democratic Party of
Japan (DPJ) President Yukio Hatoyama also said that he would
not visit if his party assumes power after the August 30
Lower House election. Both party leaders' clear statements
rejecting visits to the Shrine suggest that they want to
avoid highlighting an issue that has had minimal resonance
with election voters in the past anyway and that has sparked
tensions with Japan's neighbors. END SUMMARY
2. (C) Prime Minister Aso and most of his Cabinet have
indicated their decision to forgo August 15 visits to the
controversial Yasukuni Shrine--the place of enshrinement for
Japan's war dead, including 14 Class-A war criminals, and a
persistent point of contention between Japan and Asian
neighbors. PM Aso's public comments suggest that he wants to
avoid criticism from China and South Korea, and prevent the
matter from turning into a campaign issue before the August
30 election. Aso told reporters August 10 that he thought it
was "wrong to make people who sacrificed their precious lives
for the state a political or election issue or fodder for
newspapers." (Ref A.) Then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi
in 2006 was the last sitting prime minister to visit Yasukuni
on the August 15 anniversary of the end of World War II.
3. (C) Most other Cabinet ministers appear to be following
suit. Fifteen of the seventeen members of Aso's Cabinet say
that they will not visit the Shrine on the anniversary date,
according to Japanese press reports. Health, Labor, and
Welfare Minister and popular LDP Diet Representative Yoichi
Masuzoe and State Minister Yuko Obuchi are some of the
members who have publicly stated their intention not to visit
Yasukuni. Consumer Affairs Minister Seiko Noda is the only
Cabinet member to announce definitively her intention to pay
homage at the Shrine. However, she will do so in a "private
capacity," according to Japanese media reports.
4. (C) In keeping with his longtime opposition to ministerial
Shrine visits, DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama said that he
would not visit if his party assumes power after the
elections, during an August 11 press conference at party
headquarters. "I have no intention to visit," he clearly
stated. Hatoyama also underscored his preference for all
cabinet members to forgo such behavior.
5. (C) EMBASSY contacts broadly agree that Aso, although
embattled domestically, has helped his own cause on China and
South Korea policy, in part, by maintaining an ambiguous
position on prime ministerial visits to the Shrine, in
contrast with Koizumi, who annually acted on his campaign
promise to visit Yasukuni. Aso has told reporters that it is
"natural to take into account various situations" when
deciding to visit--a reference to Japanese regional
relations. (Ref B.) Aso has visited Yasukuni in the past,
including as Internal Affairs and Communications Minister
during 2003-05, but regional neighbors appear willing to
tolerate Aso's past actions. His reported offering during
last year's Shrine Autumn Festival and his offering of a
potted plant during this year's Shrine Spring Festival only
prompted relatively mild expressions of concern from China
and South Korea.
6. (C) Aso's and Hatoyama's clear statements rejecting visits
to the Shrine on the August 15 anniversary suggest that they
want to avoid calling attention to an issue that has had
minimal resonance with voters in the past anyway and that has
sparked tensions with Japan's neighbors. With his
conservative credentials already intact and his party
projected to incur major losses during the election, Aso is
probably looking to play it safe.
ZUMWALT
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR EAP/J, EAP/CM
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/12/2019
TAGS: CH JA
SUBJECT: JAPAN: GOVERNMENT SIDESTEPPING YASUKUNI VISITS
REF: A. AUGUST 11 2009 DAR
B. TOKYO 958
Classified By: CDA James P. Zumwalt for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
1. (C) SUMMARY: Prime Minister Aso and most of his Cabinet
are signaling their decision to forgo August 15 visits to the
controversial Yasukuni Shrine. In keeping with his longtime
opposition to ministerial Shrine visits, Democratic Party of
Japan (DPJ) President Yukio Hatoyama also said that he would
not visit if his party assumes power after the August 30
Lower House election. Both party leaders' clear statements
rejecting visits to the Shrine suggest that they want to
avoid highlighting an issue that has had minimal resonance
with election voters in the past anyway and that has sparked
tensions with Japan's neighbors. END SUMMARY
2. (C) Prime Minister Aso and most of his Cabinet have
indicated their decision to forgo August 15 visits to the
controversial Yasukuni Shrine--the place of enshrinement for
Japan's war dead, including 14 Class-A war criminals, and a
persistent point of contention between Japan and Asian
neighbors. PM Aso's public comments suggest that he wants to
avoid criticism from China and South Korea, and prevent the
matter from turning into a campaign issue before the August
30 election. Aso told reporters August 10 that he thought it
was "wrong to make people who sacrificed their precious lives
for the state a political or election issue or fodder for
newspapers." (Ref A.) Then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi
in 2006 was the last sitting prime minister to visit Yasukuni
on the August 15 anniversary of the end of World War II.
3. (C) Most other Cabinet ministers appear to be following
suit. Fifteen of the seventeen members of Aso's Cabinet say
that they will not visit the Shrine on the anniversary date,
according to Japanese press reports. Health, Labor, and
Welfare Minister and popular LDP Diet Representative Yoichi
Masuzoe and State Minister Yuko Obuchi are some of the
members who have publicly stated their intention not to visit
Yasukuni. Consumer Affairs Minister Seiko Noda is the only
Cabinet member to announce definitively her intention to pay
homage at the Shrine. However, she will do so in a "private
capacity," according to Japanese media reports.
4. (C) In keeping with his longtime opposition to ministerial
Shrine visits, DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama said that he
would not visit if his party assumes power after the
elections, during an August 11 press conference at party
headquarters. "I have no intention to visit," he clearly
stated. Hatoyama also underscored his preference for all
cabinet members to forgo such behavior.
5. (C) EMBASSY contacts broadly agree that Aso, although
embattled domestically, has helped his own cause on China and
South Korea policy, in part, by maintaining an ambiguous
position on prime ministerial visits to the Shrine, in
contrast with Koizumi, who annually acted on his campaign
promise to visit Yasukuni. Aso has told reporters that it is
"natural to take into account various situations" when
deciding to visit--a reference to Japanese regional
relations. (Ref B.) Aso has visited Yasukuni in the past,
including as Internal Affairs and Communications Minister
during 2003-05, but regional neighbors appear willing to
tolerate Aso's past actions. His reported offering during
last year's Shrine Autumn Festival and his offering of a
potted plant during this year's Shrine Spring Festival only
prompted relatively mild expressions of concern from China
and South Korea.
6. (C) Aso's and Hatoyama's clear statements rejecting visits
to the Shrine on the August 15 anniversary suggest that they
want to avoid calling attention to an issue that has had
minimal resonance with voters in the past anyway and that has
sparked tensions with Japan's neighbors. With his
conservative credentials already intact and his party
projected to incur major losses during the election, Aso is
probably looking to play it safe.
ZUMWALT