Japan PM Kishida visits Yasukuni Shrine on 79th surrender anniversary

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sent a ritual offering to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine on Thursday, as the country marked the 79th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II.

Kishida dedicated the Tamakushi fees to the shrine, a symbol of Japan's past brutal militarism, in his capacity as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

It came a day after Kishida took the world by surprise by announcing that he would not run in the ruling party's presidential race next month, ready to step down as prime minister after three years in power.

While Kishida has not visited the notorious shrine in person, several LDP lawmakers, including Shinjiro Koizumi, a former environment minister and son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, visited the shrine on Thursday to pay homage.

The Yasukuni Shrine, located in central Tokyo, honors 14 convicted Class-A Japanese war criminals from World War II. It has long been a source of diplomatic friction for Japan and its neighbors.

Visits and ritual offerings made by Japanese officials to the controversial shrine have consistently sparked criticism and hurt the feelings of the people of China, South Korea and other countries brutalized by Japan during the war.

Memorial halls and museums dedicated to the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression on Thursday received streams of visitors as the nation marked the 79th anniversary of Japan's surrender. 

People visited war memorials and museums to mark the anniversary, refreshing their memories of the war and paying tribute to fallen heroes who had sacrificed their lives for national independence.

The Memorial Hall of the Victory of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the Acceptance of Japan’s Surrender, located in Zhijiang Dong Autonomous County in central China's Hunan Province, held a commemorative event to remind people about the national suffering.

In front of the memorial hall, more than 200 participants, including armed police officers, student representatives, and staff members of the memorial hall, took part in the commemoration event.

In east China's Jiangsu Province, the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders held a themed educational event to commemorate the 79th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II. Thirty participants, including representatives of the descendants of Nanjing Massacre survivors, young students, and university volunteers, attended the event.

Wednesday marks the ninth International Memorial Day for the "Comfort Women," which refers to victims forced into sexual slavery by Japanese troops during World War II. A South Korean civic group held its 1,661st regular rally in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul on Wednesday, urging the Japanese government to issue a formal apology and provide legal compensation to the victims of wartime rape and sexual enslavement. The group also called on the South Korean government to restore the victims' honor. Hundreds of Seoul residents, students, and political figures joined the demonstration.

The director of the civic group said that the Japanese government denies its history, refusing to acknowledge and apologize for its wartime crimes. Instead of taking responsibility, it actively tries to erase evidence of these atrocities, The government continuously denies the crimes against humanity it committed, avoids accountability, and dishonors comfort women.

An organization fighting for justice for Philippine wartime sexual slavery victims of the Japanese troops during World War II slammed Japan's remorselessness for its cruelties and atrocities during the war.

"Lila Pilipina deplores (the Japanese government's) lack of genuine remorse for its wartime crimes against Filipino comfort women—79 years after the end of World War II," Lila Pilipina executive director Sharon Cabusao-Silva said.

"It is almost eight decades, yet the Japanese government has not only refused to act on its responsibility to heal the wounds it inflicted on Filipino women and the nation as a whole," Silva said, adding Japan "continues to deceptively claim that they have already apologized for these crimes to evade responsibility and to justify its war agenda in the country."

(With input from Xinhua)