Japanese first lady Akie Abe said she has again visited the controversial Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo, posting photographs of the site on the same day Japan and South Korea struck a landmark agreement on wartime sex slaves.
“My final visit of the year,” the wife of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wrote on Facebook on Monday, noting that this year marks the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
The shrine honors millions of Japan’s war dead, including more than 30,000 Taiwanese soldiers killed in World War II, and visits by high-profile figures anger wartime adversaries China and South Korea.
Akie Abe, known as a fan of South Korean culture, did not say when she visited the shrine. Her Facebook post was accompanied by two photos of shrine buildings.
The Yomiuri Shimbun cited a shrine official as saying it could not confirm whether she had entered the main shrine. According to Akie Abe’s Facebook page, she also visited the shrine in May and August.
Her husband, who visited the shrine in December 2013 — which set off a firestorm of criticism in China and South Korea and earned a rare rebuke from the US — made a ritual offering in October, although he did not go himself.
The announcement of the first lady’s latest visit comes as Japan and South Korea reached an agreement on the emotional and divisive issue of wartime sex slaves that has long soured relations.
A conservative academic close to Shinzo Abe told the Mainichi Shimbun that the first couple might have decided to make the latest visit “to show consideration to his supporters, who are against the agreement with South Korea.”
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was