Voices of Rage: Six Paths to the Problem of Yasukuni

Abstract

The success of Hatoyama Yukio’s Democratic Party in the general elections of September 2009 marked the end of an era. For the previous fifty-four years, with only the briefest hiatus, Japan was ruled by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). The Japanese post-war, in its achievements and failures, its aims and ambitions, has been defined by the conservative LDP. The passing of the LDP, however temporary, provides an opportunity to take stock and reflect. One defining feature of the LDP years was a series of attempts by administrations to redefine the relationship between state and religion. Article 20 of the Constitution provides for state–religion separation, but the LDP sought to question this; and it did so entirely on account of Yasukuni. Yasukuni is the Shinto shrine in Tokyo which enshrines the Japanese war dead as kami, and propitiates them in Shinto rites. As a Shinto shrine, Yasukuni is defined in law as a religious corporation (shūkyō hōjin), so LDP Prime Ministers encountered the obstacle of Article 20 whenever they wished to honour and mourn the war dead.