A group of Japanese lawmakers visited Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Monday for its autumn festival.
The shrine honors Japan’s war dead. Those remembered include leaders convicted of war crimes after World War Two.
About 70 lawmakers from a nonpartisan group, including members of the Liberal Democratic Party, the Japan Innovation Party, the Democratic Party for the People and Sanseito, visited the shrine.
A member of Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae’s Cabinet, Land Minister Ibayashi Tatsunori, was among the group. Sanseito President Kamiya Sohei also took part.
The head of the group, former LDP Diet Affairs Committee Chairperson Aisawa Ichiro, said in a news conference that he renewed his commitment to walking the path of a peaceful nation while keeping the tragedies of war and the value of peace in his heart.
He noted that nearly all of the current Diet members were born after the war. He stressed they have a major mission of passing on the harsh history and pain, the tragedies of war and the value of peace, to the next generation.
A nonpartisan group of Diet members visits Yasukuni Shrine every year during the spring and autumn festivals and on August 15 when Japan marks the end of World War Two.
AloJapan.com