Asked if her views had changed, she says she is 'growing every day'; offers ritual tribute to Yasukuni Shrine but holds off on visit

Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, where Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae offered a ritual tribute on Saturday (local time). [AFP]
Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, where Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae offered a ritual tribute on Saturday (local time). [AFP]

Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae has again affirmed that she upholds the historical positions of past cabinets, including the Murayama Declaration, which expressed remorse and apology for Japan's colonial rule, the Asahi Shimbun reported Saturday.

Takaichi made the remarks Friday at a budget committee session of the House of Councillors, the upper house of parliament, in response to questions on the matter. "I have said that the positions of past cabinets on historical recognition will not waver going forward," she said. "The Murayama Declaration is naturally included in that."

The comments came in response to questions from Tsujimoto Kiyomi, a lawmaker of the Constitutional Democratic Party, who pressed Takaichi over her past statements on the issue.

As a rookie lawmaker in 1995, Takaichi had told the House of Representatives' foreign affairs committee: "At the very least, I myself belong to a generation that cannot be called a party to the war, so I am not reflecting on anything, nor do I have any reason to be asked to."

She had also criticized the Murayama Declaration, saying that leaving its "reckless views" unchallenged would "bind future generations as citizens of a criminal state," and that she found it "hard to accept" that the word "aggression" had been included in the text.

The Murayama Declaration was issued in 1995 by then-Prime Minister Murayama Tomiichi to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. In it, he expressed remorse and apology, acknowledging that Japan had caused "tremendous damage and suffering" to the people of Asia.

When Tsujimoto asked whether her views had changed since those earlier remarks, Takaichi said she was "growing every day" and added that, as with the Abe Declaration marking the 70th anniversary of the war's end, she believed future generations should not be burdened with responsibility for the past.

Takaichi had also officially stated on Nov. 7 last year, after taking office, that she would uphold past cabinets' positions on historical recognition in relation to the Murayama Declaration. The shift appears to reflect her awareness of the diplomatic repercussions and international scrutiny that would follow, given that she had previously taken a hardline conservative stance and openly criticized the declaration.

Since becoming prime minister, Takaichi has also refrained from visiting Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, where Class-A war criminals from the Pacific War are enshrined. Before becoming Liberal Democratic Party leader last October, she had regularly visited the shrine during the spring and autumn festival periods and on Aug. 15 — Liberation Day in South Korea and the anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War II.

During the shrine's three-day autumn festival, which began Saturday, a ritual offering known as a "masakaki" was submitted in the name of "Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae." Kyodo News reported that she plans to forgo an in-person visit to the shrine during the festival period to avoid diplomatic complications.


spa@heraldcorp.com