海角大神

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spun East Asia deeper into a vortex of mistrust and recrimination聽Thursday, visiting a controversial shrine honoring Japan鈥檚 war dead that its neighbors view as a symbol of Tokyo鈥檚 past militarist aggression.

China reacted fiercely, issuing a 鈥渟trong protest and severe condemnation鈥� of Mr. Abe鈥檚 visit to Yasukuni, where the memorials of 2.5 million war dead, including 14 Class A war criminals, are enshrined. A minister in South Korea, which also suffered grievously under Japanese occupation, called the move 鈥渄eplorable.鈥�

Abe鈥檚 visit to Yasukuni, the first in seven years by a sitting prime minister, appeared to kill any hopes of early reconciliation among the three nations, currently locked in territorial disputes and resentment over Japan鈥檚 behavior during and before World War II.

鈥淭his is one of the worst possible things he could have done,鈥� says Jia Qingguo, a professor of International Studies at Peking University. 鈥淧ragmatic management of the problems between China and Japan will become more difficult.鈥�

Abe told reporters after the visit, which marked the first anniversary of his inauguration, that he had intended to 鈥渃onvey my resolve that people never again suffer the horrors of war,鈥� and that 鈥淚 have no intention to hurt the feelings of the Chinese or Korean people.鈥�

Although 鈥渉e knew this would cause uproar,鈥� according to one Japanese official familiar with Abe鈥檚 thinking, the Japanese leader reasoned that he had little to lose. 鈥淩elations with China cannot go further south 鈥� they have hit bottom,鈥� the official said. The two nations are locked into a bitter dispute over ownership of a group of rocks known in China as the Diaoyu islands and in Japan as the Senkaku.

Prof. Jia is not persuaded. 鈥淭his can definitely make the relationship worse,鈥� he warns, 鈥渁nd there are people in China thinking of tougher actions that China can take鈥� in its military standoff around the islands.

The US embassy in Tokyo, in an unusually rapid response, said Washington was 鈥渄isappointed鈥� by Abe鈥檚 action, which it feared would 鈥渆xacerbate tensions鈥� with Japan鈥檚 neighbors. The shrine visit marks another turn of the screw in the region a month after Beijing declared an aerial defense identification zone over the disputed islands, a move Japan angrily rejected.聽

In October, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Secretary of State John Kerry, on a visit to Japan, paid tribute at Chidorigafuchi,聽Japan鈥檚 national cemetery, which many believe would be a less聽incendiary focal point for the country鈥檚 war-related commemorations. Hundreds of thousands of unidentified war dead are buried there, mostly in communal plots.聽

In sending senior politicians to Chidorigafuchi, the US had made clear聽its disdain for Yasukuni, says Koichi Nakano, a professor of politics聽at Sophia University in Tokyo.聽

鈥淚t was as if they were saying to Abe that he, too, should go to聽Chidorigafuchi, not to Yasukuni,鈥� Mr. Nakano said.聽鈥淭he US seems worried about Abe鈥檚 nationalist tendencies. There are聽also anxieties over Abe鈥檚 enthusiasm for constitutional reform and a聽bigger role for the Japanese military.鈥�

Military budget hike

Abe, who oversaw the increase of Japan鈥檚 military budget this year and sought to amend its pacifist Constitution, is keen to restore Japan鈥檚 pride in its past and is unapologetic about its wartime history.

He visited Yasukuni, suggests Robert Dujarric, a political analyst at Temple University in Tokyo, 鈥渂ecause he believes in it. He is a values politician鈥�and Yasukuni symbolizes Japan鈥檚 military modernization, defense of its sovereignty and the sacrifice of Japanese soldiers and sailors,鈥� all contemporary political hot-button issues as Japan faces an increasingly assertive China.

鈥淎be feels it is necessary for a Japanese leader to pay homage to the country鈥檚 war dead,鈥� explains Tomohiko Taniguchi, an adviser to the prime minister. 鈥淚t is all about Japan鈥檚 collective memory and his fears that this mythology could become rootless. He probably decided that at some point, a political leader like him should not look at the headlines but follow his convictions.鈥�

Japan鈥檚 foreign minister, Fumio Kishida, said he hoped Abe鈥檚 visit聽would not worsen Japan鈥檚 ties with its neighbors.聽"I understand that a politician's visit or a minister's visit to the聽shrine is a matter of his or her personal beliefs,'' Mr. Kishida told聽reporters.

Conservative pressure聽

Abe is unlikely to pay a political price at home, where TV stations聽broke into scheduled programming to show live coverage of the leader,聽dressed in formal attire, being driven to Yasukuni, where he stayed聽for about 15 minutes.

His approval ratings have recovered slightly, having dipped earlier聽this month in the wake of the introduction of an unpopular state聽secrets bill. Moreover, his shrine visit will have pleased voters who wanted聽their leader to demonstrate resolve in the face of Chinese聽provocations over the disputed islands.

Abe had reportedly come under pressure from his conservative backers聽in the governing Liberal Democratic Party to make a pilgrimage to聽Yasukuni by the year鈥檚 end, given that another opportunity would not聽have arisen until the shrine holds a festival next spring.

Abe did not visit the shrine during his first term as prime minister that ended in 2007. He later expressed regret that he 鈥� for diplomatic reasons 鈥� had not done so. A deep admirer of his grandfather, Nobosuke Kishi, who was Minister of Industry for much of the Second World War, Abe sparked controversy earlier this year when he he said that the meaning of 鈥渁ggression鈥� had yet to be defined in the context of Japan鈥檚 invasion of China and Korea.

Coming in the wake of such statements, Abe鈥檚 Yasukuni visit, which has upset Washington and infuriated Beijing and Seoul, 鈥渋s very self destructive,鈥� says Shen Dingli, an international affairs analyst at Fudan University in Shanghai. 鈥淛apan has hurt itself.鈥澛�