Capturing the Nukiji House of Yasukuni Shrine.,
, ‘It has been revealed that candidates for officers of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force made a group visit to the ‘Yushukan’ exhibition hall inside Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, where Class A war criminals from the Pacific War are enshrined.’,
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, ‘The Asahi Shimbun in Japan reported on the 14th that “In May of this year, candidates for Maritime Self-Defense Force officers visited Yushukan as part of their training course,” and “It has been confirmed that the Self-Defense Force, which seemed to have broken away from the old Japanese military, still maintains close ties to it.”‘,
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, ‘Yasukuni Shrine is a facility that honors the spirits of over 2.46 million soldiers who were involved in Japan’s civil wars and aggressive wars since the Meiji Restoration in 1867, and it is a central facility of the ‘National Shinto’, which was a spiritual pillar of Japanese militarism. Yushukan, an exhibition hall within Yasukuni Shrine, has faced criticism for glorifying war, using the term “Greater East Asia War” to refer to the Pacific War even though the term is taboo in Japan.’,
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, ‘The South Korean Navy Headquarters confirmed to the newspaper that “Officer candidates undergoing training on a training fleet participated in ‘Yushukan training’ on May 10.” The Maritime Self-Defense Force conducts training every year to increase understanding of Japanese history and culture among its personnel, and this time they visited Yushukan.’,
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, ‘Regarding the scale of officer candidates’ participation, the Maritime Self-Defense Force avoided giving a quick response, stating that “It takes time to confirm.” However, considering that this visit was part of a program called ‘coastal training voyage’ involving around 200 officer candidates who had completed training on the training fleet, a considerable number of personnel are likely to have participated. It is not confirmed whether the officer candidates who visited also paid their respects at Yasukuni Shrine.’,
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, ‘This is not the first time the Self-Defense Force has mobilized officer candidates to visit Yasukuni. Last May, it was revealed that 165 officer candidates from a training fleet in the vicinity of Tokyo’s Kudan district made a group visit to Yasukuni Shrine during their break time. At that time, the Self-Defense Force recruited volunteers, and chartered buses were used to transport the officer candidates from the training fleet to Yasukuni Shrine. There were suspicions raised that the Self-Defense Force is making a tradition of visiting or paying respects at Yasukuni Shrine under the pretext of ‘officer candidate training.”,
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