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July 25, 2004
For hate sake, I spit my last breath at thee . . . (Part 1)
7/22/2004
I visited Yasukuni Jinja today.
Yasukuni is the most famous and controversial Japanese shrine devoted to the military dead, who are regaled as 'heros' giving their lives to the defense of the country. In doing so, Yasukuni pays a disquieting homage to a militarism that reshaped Asia, killing thirty or forty million along the war. It also offers a retelling history that many outside of Japan consider farcical. Yasukuni is all the more controversial because it enshrines the seven military leaders of Japan who were executed by the Allied powers as Class A war criminals. These include Japan's wartime prime minister, Tojo Hideki, the general who was largely responsible for carrying out the Pacific War. Tojo rose to power shortly before the Pearl Harbor attack, which was carried out under his orders (against the advice of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto).
Yasukuni created a media stir in 2001, when Japanese prime minister Koizumi Junichiro paid an official state visit to the memorial. The visit prompted diplomatic protest across Asia, most noteably from China and South Korea - two of the countries most affected by Japanese military action during World War II.
My visit to this shrine was motivated mostly for curiosity. Japan's denial of its wartime past is something I've often read about, but I wanted to see it for myself.
The actual shrine - you can see people bowing and giving money in respect. Dressed in my Chinese shirt and Chairman Mao hat, I walked up to the prayer box, finished off a can of orange soda and spat it into the box in symbolic protest. That was probably the highlight of the day for me.
A group of veterans post in front of the shrine.
An American plane going down in flames in a dogfight with a Japanese Zero.
A ridiculous painting - among Asian minority groups, the Japanese are even more hated than the Chinese.
One of Japan's many imperialist crusades...
Yes, the US shouldn't done more ... to help China.
You can judge a person by the company they keep...
A documentary out of touch with history...
What the rest of the world refer to as the "Rape of Nanking"
A reminder to a homogenous people that they are not alone in the world...
War criminals? History be the judge...
V-J
Posted by rxu at July 25, 2004 03:54 AM