VZCZCXRO7166
PP RUEHFK RUEHKSO RUEHNAG RUEHNH
DE RUEHKO #4513/01 2221742
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 101742Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5223
INFO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/USDOJ WASHDC PRIORITY
RULSDMK/USDOT WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J5//
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHHMHBA/COMPACFLT PEARL HARBOR HI
RHMFIUU/HQ PACAF HICKAM AFB HI//CC/PA//
RHMFIUU/COMUSJAPAN YOKOTA AB JA//J5/JO21//
RUYNAAC/COMNAVFORJAPAN YOKOSUKA JA
RUAYJAA/COMPATWING ONE KAMI SEYA JA
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA 0180
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA 7606
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE 0923
RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA 7438
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 8719
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 3701
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 9839
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1540

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TOKYO 004513 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR E, P, EB, EAP/J, EAP/P, EAP/PD, PA 
WHITE HOUSE/NSC/NEC; JUSTICE FOR STU CHEMTOB IN ANTI-TRUST DIVISION; 
TREASURY/OASIA/IMI/JAPAN; DEPT PASS USTR/PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE; 
SECDEF FOR JCS-J-5/JAPAN, 
DASD/ISA/EAPR/JAPAN; DEPT PASS ELECTRONICALLY TO USDA 
FAS/ITP FOR SCHROETER; PACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR; 
CINCPAC FLT/PA/ COMNAVFORJAPAN/PA. 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO PGOV PINR ECON ELAB JA
SUBJECT:  DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 08/10/06 
 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) If elected prime minister, Abe would introduce open-recruitment 
system for administration; Private citizens would be appointed to 
government posts 
 
(2) Ozawa Minshuto (Part 2): Hatoyama, Kan give total support to 
Ozawa 
 
(3) M&As on sharp increase, reaching 7.8 trillion yen: Struggle to 
increase market share to grow 
 
(4) Yasukuni part 3: Thesis by leading Shinto history scholar raises 
doubts about propriety of enshrinement of Class-A war criminals 
 
(5) Yasukuni Shrine-Where to go now?  (Part 4): Split over 
structural reform; The forgotten peace shrine 
 
(6) Pros and cons of prime minister's visits to Yasukuni Shrine: 
Fuyuko Kamisaka, non-fiction writer - Settlement has already been 
reached 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) If elected prime minister, Abe would introduce open-recruitment 
system for administration; Private citizens would be appointed to 
government posts 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Top Play) (Full) 
August 10, 2006 
 
It was learned yesterday that if elected president of the Liberal 
Democratic Party (LDP), Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe would 
give persons from the private-sector key government posts. He is 
considering advertising for candidates for some posts. The new 
government will have to deal with such controversial issues as cuts 
in expenditures and reform of the public servant personnel system, 
to which bureaucrats are expected to be opposed. Abe is determined 
that in order to control bureaucratic resistance, political 
leadership will be necessary to deal with such issues. 
 
The political appointee system means that the prime minister and 
politicians install bureaucrats under not jurisdiction and experts 
from the private sector in key government posts. 
 
Even under the present system, the political appointee is applied to 
such special posts as cabinet public relations secretary, deputy 
chief cabinet secretary for crisis management, ambassadors, and 
advisory councils. Except for council member posts, there are a few 
private-sector persons appointed to key government posts. 
 
Under an Abe government, the practice of political appointees will 
be carried out in a positive manner, subject to special posts. 
 
Not only private citizens but also bureaucrats will likely be 
picked. In that case, appointments would be made under the political 
leadership regardless of the seniority-base system and the 
intentions of government offices. 
 
The government would advise for candidates for some posts and the 
prime minister or cabinet ministers would select suitable persons 
from the candidates. 
 
 
TOKYO 00004513  002 OF 009 
 
 
In medium- and long-term, legal amendment is being considered in 
order to expand subject of political appointee to general public 
servants. Modeling after the Policy Unit of the British prime 
minister, a brain-trust group, Abe is also considering introducing 
the Japanese version of Policy Unit, which would assist 
policy-making. The policy unit would be made up of various experts 
from the private sector picked by the prime minister and cabinet 
ministers. They would work on a fulltime basis. 
 
(2) Ozawa Minshuto (Part 2): Hatoyama, Kan give total support to 
Ozawa 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Abridged slightly) 
August 9, 2006 
 
Naoto Kan, acting president of the largest opposition party Minshuto 
(Democratic Party of Japan), and his fellow party members held a 
barbecue party in Naoshima, an island town (in Kagawa Prefecture) in 
the Seto Inland Sea, on the night of July 22. Kan talked about the 
party situation with Satsuki Eda while drinking beer. Eda was former 
chairman of the party's caucus in the House of Councillors. 
 
Kan and his fellow members continued drinking until late that night 
at the hotel where they were staying. Kan spoke passionately about 
his plans: "This is the last chance. Together with Mr. Hatoyama, I 
am determined to completely support Mr. Ozawa in order to take the 
reins of government." 
 
Nobody objected to Kan's view that Ichiro Ozawa would be reelected 
in the September party presidential election. 
 
This summer Kan is vigorously working as proxy for Ozawa, who is 
busy with a nationwide campaign for the next House of Councillors 
election, by appearing on TV programs and delivering speeches, was 
well as calling on support organizations. 
 
Also Yukio Hatoyama, who has been called the "owner" of Minshuto, as 
he contributed funds to the party when it was inaugurated, has 
firmly supported Ozawa. 
 
The party makes decisions at board meetings (yakuin-kai) and 
standing secretaries' meetings (joninkanji-kai) held every Tuesday. 
However, the three top leaders -- Ozawa, Kan, and Hatoyama -- decide 
on general directions in their meetings on Mondays. A tripartite 
system of party management has taken root. 
 
Some party lawmakers at first had a chilly view of Kan, assuming 
that his self-centered personality would prevent him from being part 
of a triumvirate, according to a mid-level member. It is true that 
Kan, a former activist, and Ozawa, a former LDP mainstream faction 
member, are fundamentally different. Kan gave Ozawa the acting 
president post when Ozawa joined Minshuto in 2003. Kan's aide said 
that Kan was unhappy with Ozawa's failure to attend party meetings. 
 
Ozawa, however, as party head, never fails to give consideration to 
Kan. He let Kan and Hatoyama come with him to China. The three went 
even fishing together. 
 
Kan and Hatoyama alternately held the party presidency after its 
foundation. The Kan-Hatoyama era, however, is over. Katsuya Okada 
was elected president in 2004 and Seiji Maehara in 2005. By devoting 
himself to supporting Ozawa, Kan has come back to the party 
leadership. Kan and Hatoyama are standing in the spotlight. 
 
TOKYO 00004513  003 OF 009 
 
 
 
As if further confirmation is needed, Ozawa clarified that he would 
reappoint Kan and Hatoyama on a Yomiuri TV program on Aug. 5. 
 
Kan no longer even criticizes Ozawa to his close friends. He is even 
trying to pave the way for the uncontested reelection of Ozawa in 
September. Some party members have speculated as to the 
honeymoon-like relations among the three. A junior lawmaker said, 
"Both Mr. Kan and Mr. Hatoyama may be expecting to become prime 
minister when a Minshuto government is inaugurated," considering 
Ozawa's heart problems. 
 
Under the triumvirate, Ozawa's aggressive strategy focusing on the 
Upper House election in the summer of next year seems stable. 
However, some in the party feel wonder why there has been no 
criticism of Ozawa. They wonder if it is possible to offer 
appropriate opinions to Ozawa only when a correction in strategy is 
needed. 
 
A mid-level lawmaker said: 
 
"I am anxious about the present situation. I want Mr. Kan, who 
competed with Mr. Ozawa in the presidential race, to take the 
diversity of opinion within the party into account and stand up to 
Mr. Ozawa at times." 
 
Is this mid-level lawmaker's worry for nought? 
 
(3) M&As on sharp increase, reaching 7.8 trillion yen: Struggle to 
increase market share to grow 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Top Play) (Slightly abridged) 
August 10, 2006 
 
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) among domestic companies are on the 
increase. The total sum in the January-July period this year reached 
7.88 trillion yen, up 9 points from the same period year before, 
showing a robust sign to update a record high. Takeover bids (TOB), 
a method such companies as Oji Paper and AOKI Holdings adopted 
toward their competitors, have jumped close to 3 trillion yen. In a 
number of cases, financial institutions and investment funds were 
seen backing bidders in terms of providing strategy and funds. M&As 
are beginning to be a widespread practice as a common business 
management strategy. 
 
TOB close to 3 trillion yen 
 
Recof, an M&A broker, in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, has worked out those 
figures. M&As among domestic companies are particularly visible 
these days. That is because domestic demand-oriented companies, 
which are concerned about the scaling down of the market following 
the declining birthrate, are actively acquiring companies or 
defending from takeover bids in order to expand domestic shares in a 
short period of time. 
 
Consolidated rules have partially contributed to sharp growth in the 
number of TOB, which reached 31 cases this year as of August 9 or 
worth 2.9931 trillion yen. The figure has already largely topped 
860.8 billion yen marked in 2004, the highest in the past. 
 
Securing top place in short period of time 
 
As a result of corporate managers beginning to question market 
 
TOKYO 00004513  004 OF 009 
 
 
players the propriety of an M&A strategy without fearing 
confrontation, prices (average premiums) added to stock prices in 
TOB TOP have risen. According to consulting firm KPMG FAS, such a 
margin was 27% in the 2000 - 2005 period, excluding discount TOB 
cases that were below market value). However, Oji Paper added 30% of 
and Aoki 7% . 
 
In global competition-type TOB cases, major bids, such as Toshiba's 
bid to acquire Westin House of the US, have continued. M&As 
targeting foreign companies account for 56% of all with 4.45 
trillion yen, up 5.3 times over the level of the same term in the 
preceding year. 
 
Backing from financial institutions 
 
Behind the active M&As are financial institutions that are positive 
about supplying funds. Banks moved flexibly in the takeover of 
Vodafone Japan Inc. by Softbank, by providing funds in concert. 
 
Joint financing has surged in acquisition and reconstruction cases. 
Such an amount  for this year will likely top 30 trillion yen due to 
an increase in such cases by approximately 20 points over the 
preceding year. Major securities houses have also begun boosting 
their M&A funds, as can be seen in the case of Nomura Securities, 
which is planning a system of providing acquisition funds topping 
500 billion yen by fiscal 2008. 
 
Investment funds are also steadily increasing their presence. M&As 
in the January-July period this year has dropped 7.6 points from the 
same period year before, but the inflow of funds into acquisition 
funds is robust. Permira of Europe in July set up an international 
fund worth 1.4 trillion yen that targets Japan. The Carlyle Group of 
the US also established a 215.6 billion yen fund targeting Japan in 
July. 
 
The Financial Products Trading Law, which secured a Diet approval in 
June, incorporates strengthened regulations, such as mandating TOB 
in purchasing stocks both on and off the market. Since the law will 
come into force possibly within this year, the trend of increasing 
TOB will likely continue. 
 
(4) Yasukuni part 3: Thesis by leading Shinto history scholar raises 
doubts about propriety of enshrinement of Class-A war criminals 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Excerpts) 
August 8, 2006 
 
Chief Priest Nagayoshi Matsudaira in October 1978 decided to 
enshrine Class-A war criminals along with the war dead at Yasukuni 
Shrine. Yasukuni Ashizu (69), then editor-in-chief of the Shrine 
Courier, in February 1979 asked for a meeting with chief priest 
Matsudaira personally. Matsudaira responded to the request, "Please 
come after our staffers have gone home." Ashizu visited Matsudaira 
in a reception room in the shrine's office in the evening. 
 
"I would like to ask you a question. The unanimous view of the 
Research Council on the Religious Service System (RCRSS) was to 
openly enshrine Class-A war criminals at Yasukuni Shrine under the 
protection of the state and with the support of the public. Did you 
know that?" 
 
The RCRSS, established in 1961, is an advisory organ reporting to 
the chief priests, that sought the protection of Shinto shrines by 
 
TOKYO 00004513  005 OF 009 
 
 
the state. Uzuhiko Ashizu (died in 1992 at the age of 82), the 
father of Yasukuni Ashizu, was a leading member of the RCRSS. Though 
all committee members were opposed to the enshrinement of Class-A 
war criminals at Yasukuni Shrine, chief priest Matsudaira decided to 
do so without consulting anybody. 
 
Matsudaira remained unyielding, saying: "We will enshrine (Class-A 
war criminals) if we receive a list of those to be enshrined from 
the state. That is logical." He repeatedly used the word "logical." 
Yasukuni Ashizu reported the fruitless meeting to his father. Two 
months later, the enshrinement of Class-A war criminals was revealed 
to the public. 
 
Uzuhiko Ashizu is a leading scholar of Shinto history with no formal 
institutional affiliation. He was a central figure in the 
Association of Shinto Shrines, which was established about 10 years 
after the end of the war. At that time, there was bitter criticism 
of those who led the war. Enshrining Class-A war criminals at 
Yasukuni Shrine along with the war dead could have sparked 
criticism. 
 
Concerning the secret enshrinement of Class-A war criminals decided 
on by Matsudaira, Uzuhiko anonymously released a thesis titled 
"Freedom of religion and Yasukuni Shrine - conundrum about 
enshrining executed war criminals along with the war dead" in a 
minor magazine in July 1979. In the thesis, he argued that having 
died in action while carrying out official orders of the state was a 
condition for enshrinement in Yasukuni Shrine. He noted: "Whether it 
is a shrine or a memorial, it is extremely important to set some 
sort of limits. There is a lay argument calling for enshrining all 
who contributed to the state, but this will disturb shrine 
visitors." 
 
Regarding the idea of rejecting the verdicts of the Tokyo Trials and 
treating the executions of Class-A war criminals as combat deaths, 
he took a critical view: "More than 500,000 civilians were killed by 
foreign forces in Tokyo, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the former 
Manchuria. What is the limit in these cases? There are those who 
mislead the country into a disastrous defeat." Uzuhiko thus raised 
doubts about the enshrinement of Class-A war criminals from the 
standpoint of Shinto beliefs and war responsibility. 
 
Koremaru Sakamoto, a key Shinto instructor at the council and a 
Kokugakuin University professor, was a pupil who directly learned 
from Uzuhiko. However, the 2005 view of the council written by 
Sakamoto claimed: "The enshrinement of Class-A war criminals was 
based on measures set by the Diet and the government. War criminals 
are not criminals." His ideas go against those of his mentor. 
Current Shinto scholars, including Sakamoto, are unable to explain 
the theory behind Uzuhiko's argument. Sakamoto pondered and said, 
"Mr. Uzuhiko Ashizu is right, but he is a man of the past." 
 
According to a copy of papers from the former Imperial Japanese Army 
recently discovered by Hisashi Yamanaka (75), a writer who lives in 
Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture, former Prime Minister Hideki 
Tojo, one of the Class-A war criminals enshrined at Yasukuni, 
ordered that eligibility for enshrinement at Yasukuni be limited to 
military personnel and civilian employees of the military whose 
deaths are attributable to service during the war. This illustrates 
that Yasukuni Shrine's claim deviates from Tojo's orders as well. 
 
The issue of revising the Religious Corporation Law flared up again 
in December 1995 after the Aum Shinrikyo case. Summoned to a 
 
TOKYO 00004513  006 OF 009 
 
 
question-and-answer session at an Upper House special committee, 
unsworn witness Kenji Okamoto, then chief of the Association of 
Shinto Shrines, strictly said: "There is no doctrine of Shinto 
beliefs. A law requiring that a religion possess a formal doctrine 
is nothing but religious persecution." Takeshi Arai, a professor 
emeritus of religion at Komazawa University who was sitting next to 
Okamoto at the hearing, said he felt extremely uncomfortable about 
Okamoto's view that "they alone were special." 
 
(5) Yasukuni Shrine-Where to go now?  (Part 4): Split over 
structural reform; The forgotten peace shrine 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full) 
August 9, 2006 
 
There is a dark grove fenced around with steel rails right near the 
main sanctuary of Yasukuni Shrine. In this grove stands a small 
shrine. This small erection, called Chinreisha, is dedicated to the 
souls of Japanese and foreign soldiers all over the world who died 
in the battlefield and are not enshrined at the main sanctuary. It 
was erected by Fujimaro Tsukuba, the guji or chief priest of 
Yasukuni Shrine who delayed enshrining Japan's Class-A war 
criminals. However, there are almost no visitors to this small 
shrine. 
 
In its January 1964 issue, Yasukuni Shrine's official bulletin, 
Yasukuni, carried Tsukuba's New Year's greetings filled with a 
liberal love for humanity. 
 
Tsukuba's message was as follows: "The deities of Yasukuni (i.e., 
 
SIPDIS 
the spirits of war-dead-turned-gods), hand in hand with the spirits 
of fallen soldiers around the world, form a great god of peace. The 
spirits of fallen soldiers from all nations in the world can be 
deified (under Shinto beliefs) only in Japan, where various 
religions come together into our hearts and need not struggle 
against each other." 
 
In 1963, Tsukuba and his wife visited Europe on a campaign against 
nuclear weapons and for peace. Tsukuba there met with a number of 
people in the religious world. Against the backdrop of the US-USSR 
nuclear arms race, antiwar and peace movements were on the rise. 
 
Tsukuba was born to the house of Prince Yamashina in the Imperial 
 
SIPDIS 
Family. Tsukuba graduated from the University of Tokyo. Shortly 
thereafter, Tsukuba left the Imperial family. He later became a 
scholar of Japanese history and then the chief priest of Yasukuni 
Shrine soon after the war ended. He walked the same path as the 
Imperial Household, which became a symbol of Japan's postwar 
democracy. 
 
Hisao Baba, who was a Yasukuni Shrine official in charge of public 
relations, served Tsukuba at the shrine office as one of his aides. 
According to Baba, Tsukuba was concerned about something to do with 
the Imperial Household Agency in those days. "It would be difficult 
to enshrine their (the Class-A war criminals') souls as long as I 
live," Tsukuba told Baba soon after the Class-A war criminals were 
executed in 1948. Tsukuba was worried about what was in the 
Emperor's mind, according to Baba's account. "The gonguji, who is 
the shrine's number-two official, was in charge of the shrine's 
practical business, and the guji had only to administer shrine 
festivities," said one of those who worked at Yasukuni Shrine and 
knows Tsukuba. This person recalled, "Mr. Tsukuba himself was like a 
symbol (of Yasukuni Shrine)." 
 
TOKYO 00004513  007 OF 009 
 
 
 
In July 1978, Nagayoshi Matsudaira became the new chief priest of 
Yasukuni Shrine due to Tsukuba's sudden death. That October, 
Matsudaira enshrined the Class-A war criminals in private at 
Yasukuni Shrine. In his childhood, Matsudaira stayed at the house of 
Tokyo Imperial University Professor Kiyoshi Hiraizumi, who is known 
for his historical perspective of Japan under the state sponsorship 
of Shintoism with the Emperor reigning as the living god. Matsudaira 
was a lieutenant commander in the Imperial Navy when the war ended. 
After the war, he worked for the Ground Self-Defense Force. 
 
Yasukuni Shrine was left behind in the postwar days of high economic 
growth, so Matsudaira set about to financially turn the shrine 
around. Matsudaira himself undertook the practical business of 
running the shrine. In those days, Yasukuni Shrine was staffed with 
150 personnel. Matsudaira introduced an age limit system for a de 
facto restructuring of the shrine, under which the shrine reduced 
its personnel to about 100. 
 
Yasukuni Shrine sold a portion of its landed property to the extent 
of 3,290 square meters for one billion yen or so. The shrine put the 
money into the renovation of its main sanctuary and office. In 1986, 
Matsudaira reopened Yushukan, a museum of history on the shrine's 
premises. "We got into financial trouble with fewer visitors, so he 
wanted to make it a source of income," a former employee of Yasukuni 
Shrine said, adding, "He's like Yasukuni's Carlos Ghosn (Nissan 
Motor Co. president)." 
 
Matsudaira weighed the traditions of Shinto shrines and tried to be 
independent of the state. In the early 1970s, the ruling Liberal 
Democratic Party presented to the Diet a bill seeking state support 
for Yasukuni Shrine. This legislation was intended to fund the 
shrine from state coffers. Eventually, however, the bill was 
scrapped. Matsudaira opposed the legislation. "We would not be able 
to say what we'd like to," he complained. On Aug. 15, 1985, then 
Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone made an official visit to Yasukuni 
Shrine but performed no religious activity. It was "extremely 
disrespectful to the deities" enshrined there, so Matsudaira did not 
come out in person to meet Nakasone upon his arrival at the shrine. 
 
Matsudaira was of a "stubborn and straightforward nature," according 
a scholar who had known him for years. Matsudaira was also outspoken 
to the Imperial Court, so he was alienated. Sukemasa Irie, grand 
chamberlain to the Emperor Hirohito, writes in his published diary 
that when the present-day crown prince turned 20, Matsudaira 
suggested to Irie that the crown prince pay homage at Yasukuni 
Shrine. Irie, however, answered Matsudaira, "That's none of your 
business." 
 
In his recently discovered personal notes, a one-time aide to the 
Emperor Hirohito compares Matsudaira with his father, former 
Imperial Household Minister Yoshitami Matsudaira, critically citing 
an old saying: "No child knows how dear he is to his parents." 
However, Matsudaira was also a breaker of taboos. "We," Matsudaira 
believed, "cannot restore the spirit of Japan as long as we accept 
the historical view of the Tokyo Trials." One may wonder if 
Matsudaira wanted to carry out a structural reform of Yasukuni 
Shrine by enshrining Class-A war criminals and reopening Yushukan. 
 
Yasukuni Shrine was split within itself over whether to go for 
postwar pacifism or to reject the Tokyo Trials. The enshrinement of 
Class-A war criminals reflects such an internal standoff and also 
has something to do with Japan's economic growth and Yasukuni 
 
TOKYO 00004513  008 OF 009 
 
 
Shrine's business management. 
 
In May 2002, Sukei Hosankai, an association of voluntary supporters 
for Yasukuni Shrine, held a general meeting of its members at 
Yasukuni Kaikan Hall on the precincts of Yasukuni Shrine. In that 
meeting, Sadanari Hisamatsu, formerly a professor at Ehime 
University, became its president. "I was also struck by the small 
universe of love shown by Chinreisha, which is dedicated to the 
souls of Japanese and foreign soldiers who died on the battlefield," 
Hisamatsu said in his inaugural speech there. He insisted on the 
necessity of promoting publicity for Chinreisha. Hisamatsu falls on 
the 18th head of the domain of Iyo Matsuyama in old times, and his 
father is a cousin of Tsukuba. "Chinreisha meets the Emperor Showa's 
heart," Hisamatsu stresses. However, Yasukuni Shrine remains 
silent. 
 
Aizu Byakkotai, a death squad of samurai infants formed in 1868 in 
the clan of Aizu against the government army, and a 'rebel army' 
against the Meiji era government, including Takamori Saigo, are 
enshrined at Chinreisha. "It's conceivable," one of the Yasukuni 
Shrine's officials guesses, "that the Class-A war criminals were 
also enshrined there (at Chinreisha)" until their souls were set up 
in their enshrinement to the inner sanctuary of Yasukuni Shrine in 
¶1978. Chinreisha is almost forgotten. Instead, the Yushukan museum, 
which advertises the "Greater East Asia War" (i.e., World War II) as 
an "inevitable" war, is crowded every day with summer holidays 
having set in. 
 
(6) Pros and cons of prime minister's visits to Yasukuni Shrine: 
Fuyuko Kamisaka, non-fiction writer - Settlement has already been 
reached 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Full) 
August 9, 2006 
 
-- How do you view Yasukuni Shrine? 
 
Saying: "Let's meet at Yasukuni Shrine" and saluting, men of my age 
left for the front. They were not acting but did it out of their 
emotion. Unlike other ordinary shrines, Yasukuni is special. 
 
-- The prime minister's Yasukuni visits have become a diplomatic 
issue. 
 
The People's Republic of China was created after the Tokyo Trials. 
China and South Korea are not included among the signatories of the 
Treaty of San Francisco. When China normalized diplomatic relations 
with Japan, it agreed to refrain from interfering in Japan's 
domestic affairs. I wonder what grounds China is protesting. 
 
-- Aren't they protesting as victims? 
 
Regarding the issue of Japan's culpability, a settlement was reached 
under the Treaty of San Francisco. War is something that is caused 
by the times. Japanese also suffered when they had to leave 
Manchuria. They had to leave all their belongings behind (on the 
Korean Peninsula, Japan's colony at that time, or in other places). 
 
-- How do you view the Yasukuni issue from the standpoint of the 
Constitution? 
 
Article 20 of the Constitution stipulates the separation of religion 
and state, but it is a gross exaggeration to take the prime 
 
TOKYO 00004513  009 OF 009 
 
 
minister's visits to Yasukuni as a religious activity that involves 
the exercise of authority. When the law to protect those who were 
injured or got sick in war and the bereaved families of the war dead 
was amended in 1953, it was stipulated in it that the war criminals 
should be treated the same as those who died in battle. 
 
-- Some are calling for creating a national war memorial. There is 
also the idea of separately enshrining Class-A war criminals. 
 
It is not desirable for Japan to construct a new facility in 
response to protests from other countries. A memorandum expressing 
Emperor Showa's displeasure at the enshrinement of the Class-A war 
criminals along with the war dead was revealed recently. Focusing on 
the words of the late emperor, some assert that the enshrinement of 
war criminals was inappropriate. But such an assertion is reckless. 
I think it is impossible to unenshrine the war criminals as long as 
Yasukuni Shrine says it is. 
 
-- What measures do you think will resolve the Yasukuni issue? 
 
Since the state is prohibited from Y_Qkc6UQkuni Shrine should be a 
source of emotional support for the Japanese people, and to that 
end, I hope that state subsidies will be used to make Yasukuni a 
place for venerating those who gave their lives for the country, a 
place that does not rigidly adhere to Shinto practices. 
 
SCHIEFFER