August 15 marks the 77th anniversary of Japan's unconditional surrender. However, after 77 years, Japan's right-wing politicians still do not want to repent, and even want to rush to this day and openly summon the soul of militarism.
On August 13, Yasuho Nishimura, minister of economy, trade and industry who had only been in office for three days, openly paid homage to the Yasukuni Shrine and claimed that he was thinking of the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and laughably said that he was determined to do his utmost for peace and development in Japan. Yasuori Nishimura was a member of the cabinet who visited the Yasukuni Shrine for the first time since the Kishida government to "worship ghosts."
It is worth noting that in August last year, Yasuho Nishimura, who was in charge of economic regeneration, was also a pioneer in "worshiping ghosts", and he visited the Yasukuni Shrine with Abe's younger brother, Then Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi, and Abe's confidant Takashi Sanae.
It is clear to everyone what the Yasukuni Shrine is, but here is the spiritual tool and symbol of Japanese militarism in launching a war of aggression against foreign countries, and it enshrines 14 Class-A war criminals, including Hideki Tojo and Kenji Doihara.
"Worshiping ghosts" is an act of challenging the bottom line, and Nishimura Yasushi not only went for two consecutive years, but also specially picked such a sensitive moment to go, and even claimed that it was for peace, which was simply brazen to the extreme.
In this regard, the Chinese Foreign Ministry clearly warned as soon as the incident occurred, and urged the Japanese side to face up to and profoundly reflect on the history of aggression, properly handle relevant issues with a responsible attitude, and win the trust of its Asian neighbors and the international community with practical actions.
Nishimura Yasushi's "worship of ghosts" this time is quite a bit ghostly, and it is not even excluded that he is "opening the way" for someone. On August 15, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, through his proxies, offered "jade strings" (sacrificial money) to the Yasukuni Shrine. Although the Japanese Prime Minister's official residence claims that Kishida was enshrined in the name of the president of the Liberal Democratic Party, as the long-term ruling party in Japan, the president of the Liberal Democratic Party and the prime minister of Japan cannot be separated at all. This year was Kishida's first August 15 surrender day after Japan's defeat in World War II. Senior cabinet officials, as well as Kishida himself, have made such moves in succession, which is basically a premeditated attempt to promote militarism.
After the death of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Kishida has effectively become the biggest beneficiary, and announced a new round of cabinet members last week. At the same time, Kishida claimed to fulfill Abe's legacy in the name of Abe. Japanese public opinion generally believes that Kishida will greatly speed up the revision of the constitution and the expansion of military spending after the consolidation of power.
Members of Kishida's new cabinet have already revealed their intention to carry out major arms upgrades. There has been a long-standing cooperation between the new defense minister, Yasuichi Hamada, and Shunichi Suzuki, who is in charge of budgeting, and analysts believe that the two will cooperate deeply on the issue of increasing military spending.
In 2022, Japan's defense budget is already as high as 5.4 trillion yuan (about 272.7 billion yuan), and the LDP will still push the military spending to more than 2% of its GDP, more than double the previous one, and threaten to "completely strengthen the defense force" in the next five years. It is particularly noteworthy that on the first day of his tenure, Hamada Yasushi hyped up the "China threat", which was undoubtedly creating momentum for the next expansion of Japan's military power.
In fact, both Yasuichi Hamada and his father Koichi Hamada are extremely radical far-rightists, and he has trumpeted that "Japan is not an aggressor country" and that "the Japanese prime minister should visit the Yasukuni Shrine." With such a person as defense minister, kishida can be predicted what to do next.
Kishida and his cabinet members chose to do things on the occasion of the 77th anniversary of Japan's unconditional surrender, and their ambitions to overturn the historical conclusions of World War II, to summon the soul of Japanese militarism, and to untie Japan's military forces have been clearly revealed.
Japan's right-wing forces are essentially rooted in militarism, which is why Japanese right-wing politicians still insist on "worshiping ghosts" despite repeated strong opposition from surrounding countries. Over the past year, the Japanese right has repeatedly advocated making Japan a "war-capable country." For such a country, we must be very careful, otherwise if militarism is allowed to revive in Japan, it will surely cause harm to the neighboring countries again.