Three Japanese state ministers visited a controversial war shrine yesterday as Japan commemorated the 59th anniversary of its surrender in World War II.
About 6,000 people including aging veterans and relatives of war dead as well as Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko attended a ceremony at the Budokan Hall on the edge of Tokyo's Imperial Palace grounds.
PHOTO: REUTERS
But in a move likely to spark protests from Asian countries, three state ministers visited the controversial Yasukuni shrine, widely seen as a symbol of Japan's former militarism.
The three were Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Shoichi Nakagawa, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Yoshiyuki Kamei and National Public Safety Commission chairwoman Kiyoko Ono.
They were joined by about 50 members of parliament, led by former prime minister Tsutomu Hata.
The Yasukuni shrine, which is next to the Imperial Palace, honors 2.5 million Japanese fallen in modern wars, including wartime prime minister General Hideki Tojo.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made his controversial annual pilgrimage to the shrine on January 1 this year, leading to protests from China, North Korea, South Korea and Taiwan.
In an address during the ceremony, Koizumi expressed his oft-expressed remorse for Japan's aggression against its Asian neighbors and renewed his pledge to renounce the war.
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
RSS