Criticisms regarding Prime Minister Koizumi's planned visit to Yasukuni Shrine are recently heard not only from the governments of China and Korea, but also from the U.S. Government and Japan's business world. For the Prime Minister to visit a shrine that rewards Class-A war criminals who led the aggression against Asian countries as “spirits of the war dead”, violates not only the Peace Principle, adopted in reflection of wartime aggression, and the constitutional principle of keeping religion and state separate. It also tramples on international and domestic agreements (San Francisco Peace Treaty, Japan-China Joint Statement, and Parliamentary Resolution of Post-War 50 year).

Yasukuni Shrine, a dark funeral site, is shrouded in deep gloom. Prior to and during the war, the Emperor acted as the chief mourner at Yasukuni. This served to hide the dire reality of war, with the Emperor heaping glory on the war dead, and making Yasukuni a site to transform the grief of the bereaved into bliss. Yasukuni was a military accommodation under the jurisdiction of military and naval forces, and became a spiritual pillar in driving the common people to the battlefield.

Yasukuni Shrine became a religious institution after the war, but as it is obvious from the manner in which Class-A war criminals are enshrined and displayed at the Yushukan (the Shrine’s Museum) that it still continues to serve as an institution to reward the spirits of the war dead, and to glorify aggression. We cannot accept the misguided interpretation of history exemplified by Yasukuni Shrine, and its potential to incite Japan’s people to aggression.

Even after the war, Yasukuni continued to list people as enshrined based on the register of the war dead that was illegally circulated by the Health and Welfare Ministry, without the permission of the bereaved families. There are a great number of souls listed as enshrined at Yasukuni, including 28,000 Taiwanese and 22,000 Koreans, who died after being dragged into Japan's war of aggression.

Presently, the bereaved family members of the Taiwanese and Koreans are campaigning for the names of their loved ones to be withdrawn from the list of the enshrined. However, Yasukuni Shrine refuses to respond to their claims. Should we accept this infringement of human rights neglecting the will of the deceased’s families? Should this not be called a violation of the freedom of idea, belief, religion, and a serious infringement of the right to self-determination?

Prime Minister Koizumi, immediately prior to his resignation, is expected to make an official visit to Yasukuni on August 15th. Such a visit will without doubt send a message to the world affirming the wartime aggression, and will definitively inhibit reconciliation and friendship between Japan and East Asian countries. Moreover, to incite people’s desire to have potential future war dead enshrined at Yasukuni, is nothing other than denying peace and preparing for war.

We believe that now is the time for Japan to work towards a peaceful future, in order to build a peaceful Asia. We hereby object to Prime Minister Koizumi’s Yasukuni Shrine visit. On August 11-15, East Asian citizens (Japan, Okinawa, Taiwan, Korea) will gather in Tokyo, to hold events for “Let's Light a Candle of Peace! A Candle Movement Against the Darkness of Yasukuni.”

Your participation and support will be deeply appreciated.

June 2006

The Committee of Let's Light a Candle of Peace! A Candle Movement Against the Darkness of Yasukuni
Candle Movement Committee c/o Yotsuya Sougou Law Firm Office
6F Sanei Bldg. 8 Sanei-Cho, Shinjuku-Ku, Tokyo