Xinhua Commentary: Takaichi's dangerous flirting with wartime aggression

TOKYO, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in a recent television program that she was "trying to create an environment" that would allow her to visit the notorious Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.

Such alarming rhetoric not only reveals a disregard for historical justice but also exposes the intention of Japan's right wing to revive a past rooted in militarism.

The Yasukuni Shrine is by no means an ordinary site for religious mourning and has long been a flashpoint in East Asia. Among the roughly 2.5 million war dead commemorated are 14 convicted Class-A war criminals from World War II.

For many Asian countries including China, official visits by Japanese politicians to the shrine are viewed as moves to legitimize Japan's wartime aggression. Atrocities including the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, the coercion of "comfort women," forced labor, and biological warfare remain deeply embedded in the region's memory of the wartime horrors.

At the heart of the matter is whether Japan can properly reckon with its history of aggression, show due regard for those who suffered, and abide by the basic norms of international relations.

Critics argue that any attempt by a sitting prime minister to visit the shrine risks undermining Japan's repeated pledges to uphold a postwar identity rooted in pacifism. They see the language of "creating an environment" as signaling a calculated political effort to normalize actions that previous leaders have either avoided or handled with extreme caution.

The debate over Yasukuni also intersects with broader shifts in Japan's security policy. In recent years, Tokyo has expanded defense spending, reinterpreted constitutional constraints on collective self-defense, and deepened military coordination with allies. Japan's conservative right has long sought to loosen the constraints of the postwar order. Talk of "creating an environment" is widely seen as an attempt to expand political space for a more assertive nationalist agenda.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Tokyo Trials, a milestone that has prompted renewed reflection across Asia on the legacy of World War II. In that context, Japan's pressing ahead on Yasukuni is likely to further strain relations with its neighboring countries and deepen Tokyo's diplomatic isolation. Any move that crosses clear historical red lines would be met with firm resistance from countries that see such steps as a direct affront to the postwar order. ■