According to Kyodo News on April 21, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga offered an offering called “Makakaki” on the occasion of the regular spring festival at Yasukuni Shrine in the name of the “Cabinet Minister”. Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Kenji Tamura and Expo Minister Shinji Inoue also made offerings. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Vice Foreign Minister Eiichiro Wasuo, former Okinawa Northern Minister Sungichi Eito, and former Women’s Active Minister Hajiko Arimura paid their respects.
Although Kan has no plans to visit the shrine, the offering of sacrificial offerings still provoked Chinese discontent. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin criticized “the wrongful practice of Japanese dignitaries” and “resolutely opposed” it at a regular press conference in Beijing on the same day. He said, “China urges the Japanese side to abide by the principles of the four Sino-Japanese political documents and effectively implement the Sino-Japanese consensus on the four points of principle.”
It is reported that Kan did not make offerings of sakaki when he was chief cabinet secretary, but followed the example of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe when he became prime minister. Abe told the media after the visit that it was a “tribute to the spirits of those who fought and sacrificed their precious lives for the country.” After leaving office, Abe also visited Yasukuni Shrine in September and October of last year.
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