Japanese scholar slams Takaichi government over Yasukuni visits and rising militarism

Atsushi Koketsu, professor emeritus at Yamaguchi University, slammed the Takaichi government over its moves related to the Yasukuni war shrine, which honors 14 convicted Japanese Class-A war criminals from World War II, saying Japan's tendency toward militarism has become increasingly evident.

Koketsu said recent remarks by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi have stood out as direct expressions of Japanese militarist thinking, pointing to her stance on the Yasukuni war shrine and her hostile rhetoric toward China.

Referring to recent group visits to the Tokyo shrine by Cabinet members and senior Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) officials, Koketsu said he personally regards Yasukuni as an "aggression shrine", warning that politicians returning to such a shrine risk putting Japan back on the path to wars of aggression.