A deceased Emperor makes a comeback over Yasukuni

Yasukuni is not an old shrine compared to many other Shinto religious sites in Japan. The shrine was built after the Meiji restoration of 1868 to honour those who dedicated their lives for the restoration of imperial power that eventually opened the doors to Japan's modernisation. The names of the other war dead were included in subsequent years as state Shinto gradually became an effective tool for fostering nationalist fervour that the then leadership considered essential for making Japan a significant player in the world stage. Then came the turmoil of 1945 and as Japan's unconditional surrender paved the way for the separation of state and religion, Yasukuni lost much of its significance. But not for too long, as subsequent events clearly show.

As it is said, in politics there is seldom an issue that gets buried permanently Yasukuni, too, made a comeback to the political debate after it was revealed in 1978 that the grand priest of the shrine secretly enshrined the souls of 14 convicted war criminals who were tried, and found guilty, for crimes against the nation as well as against Japan's neighbouring countries.

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We also know that, like dead political issues, politicians long dead and gone at times make spectacular comebacks to rock their own, and also other nations, over highly debated issues. The ghost of Stalin or that of Hitler might be seen as leading examples that still haunt many in some parts of the world. And when the debate gets overheated, the dead souls are all that we hear about. The never-ending political debate in Bangladesh surrounding the crucial issue of who gave the leadership during our War of Liberation, though most of us know for sure the definitive answer, is a typical example of that reality.

In Japan, too, the country's long-dead leadership of the World War II period had made new inroads in politics ever since their names were included in the list of honoured souls at Yasukuni in 1978, and there is no shortage of politicians who would like to exploit the issue for their narrow self-interest. This is what exactly is happening right now in Japan, and a new dimension to the debate has recently been added with the publication of a newly revealed memo, which claims that the country's last emperor could not accept the decision of the Yasukuni priest to enshrine war criminals and hence refrained from visiting the shrine ever since the decision was taken.

The memo, first published in Japan's leading business daily Nihon Kezai Shimbun last Thursday, rocked the country's political circles as it indicated that the deceased Emperor Hirohito, posthumously known in Japan as Showa Emperor, stopped paying visits to the shrine precisely because it enshrined Class-A war criminals in its roster in 1978. The revelation came as a severe blow to Japan's conservative politicians and academics, some of whom would like to see a revival of what they consider to be the country's glorious past and see Yasukuni as an effective tool for realising that goal.

The main argument they often cite to justify the position is that the military tribunal that was formed to try the wartime leadership vindictively identified Japan as the only evil in the Asian continent, ignoring the fact that what Japan did in Asia was a mere repetition of the evil acts long practiced by Western powers.

The recently uncovered memo showing that Emperor Hirohito apparently held a different view places such an argument in extreme difficulty, and its proponents are now seeking ways to prove that what had been mentioned in an old and worn out memo is not in line with the reality of present day Japan. But, as the matter is now being debated extensively in the Japanese media, it is definitely not going to be an easy task for the conservatives to outrightly reject the contents of the memo as being totally irrelevant.

The memorandum, written by a former Imperial Household Agency Grand Steward Tomohiko Tomita, quoted the emperor as saying that he did not visit the Yasukuni Shrine since the controversial decision to enshrine convicted war criminals, because his heart did not approve of it. Family members of late Tomita kept the memo, which was written on April 28, 1988. Although Emperor Hirohito visited the Yasukuni shrine eight times after the end of World War II, he never set foot in the shrine after the Class-A war criminals were included in the list of those venerated there. Emperor Hirohito died in January, 1989, and his displeasure about the enshrinement of war criminals had been known from testimonies of former close aides. But it is for the first time that a recorded memo has been cited as solid proof of what had long been said and known. It should be mentioned that the current emperor, Akihito, too, has never visited the shrine since he ascended the throne.

The memo sparked controversy immediately after it was first published in Nihon Kezai Shimbun, and since then most of the leading print and electronic media in Japan are focusing on the issue as leading politicians, from both the ruling and the opposition camps, are joining the debate. One of the first reactions came from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who outrightly rejected any suggestion that this might influence his decision to go to the shrine again in future. He also made it clear that the issue was not one of right or wrong , but one that depended on each person's feeling.

As the race for the leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party intensifies with the approach of the election in September, aspiring candidates did not waste time in making their respective positions clear, though for some the memo created a kind of an uneasy situation that they were not expecting at all. One such candidate is the front-runner, Shinzo Abe. The chief cabinet secretary of the Japanese government is one of the most outspoken proponents of the Yasukuni visit who even wants to see the emperor making the visit a yearly ritual. Abe was obviously caught off guard by the memo, and as a result, it was not easy for him to make any outright comment.

Speaking to reporters immediately after Nihon Kezai Shimbun published the report, Abe, however, defended Koizumi's regular visits to the shrine, but declined to make any outright comment on the memo. He knows for sure that the time is not appropriate for making any loose comments that might prompt other candidates to use the content for their own benefit. So, as a seasoned politician, he simply resorted to a wait and see game until the strong wind calms down a bit.

The revelation of the memo is definitely a timely one as the Yasukuni issue is casting a clear shadow on Japanese politics, creating a sharp division between those who would like to see the country's leaders continue going to the shrine despite the risk of alienating neighbours, and those who are calling for the separation of the war criminals from Yasukuni, so that Japan might get her Asian diplomacy on a normal footing again.

The great divide has affected the ruling party as well, as those opposing the Yasukuni visits of the prime minister seem to have found a strong basis for expressing their displeasure. Hence, the call for building a new facility that would allow Japan to come out of the Yasukuni controversy is bound to gain momentum in the coming days.