Yasukuni Shrine: Tokyo's Wartime Memorial Spurring Regional Tensions

Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine commemorates about 2.5 million war dead, including 14 Class A war criminals, and its annual visits by Japanese leaders provoke sharp protests from China and South Korea who see it as a symbol of unchecked wartime memory. While some officials defend the practice as honoring the dead, the shrine remains a flashpoint in East Asia, highlighting tensions over Japan’s wartime actions and the need for remorse and reconciliation.