Abe's act 'unconstitutional'

Q&A | Tomiichi Murayama

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the Yasukuni shrine in December, deeply damaging Japan's relations with China and South Korea. What's your opinion on the Yasukuni issue?

I don't think it is an issue when ordinary Japanese people pay respects to Japan's fallen soldiers or their own relatives at Yasukuni. However, a visit by a Japanese prime minister is a clear violation of the peace treaty Japan signed with its neighboring countries after the war. Japan accepted the convictions of the Class A war criminals by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. As a result, Japan has grown into what it is today. A prime minister's pilgrimage to the shrine means that Japan is going back on its political pledge. He should not visit.

What do you think that Japan should do to resolve the Yasukuni issue, which causes such diplomatic fallout?

Japanese prime ministers should shun the shrine, not least to support separation of religion and the state. Yasukuni was a Shinto site where Japan honored its fallen soldiers before the war. Now it pays homage to war criminals, and exhibitions within its walls extol wars. Those prime ministers who make pilgrimages to the shrine should be publicly criticized.

Do you think Japan needs to build another venue that is free of controversy?

We had such an idea of building a new memorial, which has nothing to do with religion, for those who died for their country. Yasukuni has enshrined ordinary soldiers along with the Class A war criminals. Some people recommend that it no longer should enshrine war criminals. There were also other proposals but none remains feasible. So I think the best solution is that prime ministers and Cabinet members shun the shrine.

Abe's Cabinet has decided to allow Japan the right to collective self-defense. What implications do you think this will have on Japan's relations with its neighbors?

Japan's Constitution renounces the right to wage war. The postwar administrations prior to the Abe Cabinet followed this. Since taking office in December 2012, Abe has tried to revise the interpretation of the Constitution. His approach is unconstitutional.

The Abe administration has exaggerated the dangers Japan is faced with. Japan should figure out how to clear up the factors that Abe takes as the justifications for collective self-defense rather than exercising the right.