Visits of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the Yasukuni Shrine from the Perspectives of China and Japan

Abstract

The subject of this research is the problem of visiting Yasukuni Shrine, in particular, visits by the Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi and subsequent reaction of Japan and China to his actions. The Yasukuni issue is directly related to Japanese aggression in China of 1937—1945 and is one of the key factors that currently complicate Japan-China relations and form mutual negative perception of the two countries. The time of Koizumi’s rule is the most representative from the point of characterizing contemporary view of the two sides on this aspect of historical memory. In this article views of China and Japan on the Yasukuni Shrine issue during prime minister Koizumi’s rule are compared on the basis of Chinese and Japanese information sources. Official statements of the foreign ministries, results of opinion polls, publications of mass media, and views of experts are analyzed. Analysis of various sources has shown that on the Chinese side deep resentment remains towards the aspects of historic memory related to the shrine. Japanese view on the Yasukuni problem is unacceptable to China, which makes it a stumbling block to the development of Japan-China relations. Findings of the article may be useful for understanding viewpoints of both sides, which is necessary for resolving the issue in future.