Koisumi on The South China Morning Post

Reçu de notre grande amie Natsuko Fukue, étudiante de Fukuoka, actuellement à Hong Kong, un article d'opinion fort intéressant. Son premier papier d'envergure. Il concerne la récente visite du premier ministre de l'Empereur au mémorial de Yakusuni, pour se recueillir à la mémoire des siens morts pour la patrie et qui a suscité une levée de boucliers (pardon pour le jeu de mots involontaire) des chinois et des coréens, et en suivant de la presse internationale. Bien des japonais qui ne sont ni fascistes, ni nostalgiques de l'avant-Hiroshima, y vont régulièrement en famille. Pourquoi pas le premier d'entre eux en personne ? Faut-il tolérer cette dictaure des maîtres de l'opinion et des gourous de la pensée unique ? Je vous livre l'article tel quel. Donnez votre avis.

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Koizumi should consider history in shrine visits

I wish to comment on the leader "Koizumi must make amends for shrine visit" (October 18). Ordinary Japanese might say: "What is wrong if [Prime Minister Junichiro] Koizumi wants to visit the Yasukuni Shrine for personal reasons? The Chinese and Korean governments are too sensitive. It is Japanese tradition to go to a shrine to mourn for the dead." The issue of Yasukuni is very complicated and even most Japanese do not know what kind of shrine it is. Why is this shrine so controversial ? A Tokyo University professor points out that during the second world war, Yasukuni played a role as the "alchemy of emotion", transforming to happiness the sadness of death in action. Fallen soldiers were honoured and mourned in Yasukuni. Death in action had to be "glorious", not "tragic".
The issue of war criminals enshrined together with other war dead has often been discussed in Japan, but not the country's colonialism as a whole.
Some might claim that the war dead fought for the people and country, but we need to remember that the "country" meant not only Japan but its colonial empire.
Mr Koizumi says visiting the Yasukuni shrine is a domestic affair. However, the war dead mourned there are not only Japanese. And there are a large number of war victims outside Japan. Shouldn't condolences be offered for them, too?
Why does Mr Koizumi want to sacrifice bonds with neighbouring countries in order to "personally" visit Yasukuni? I would like the prime minister, as a politician, to consider the effects of diplomacy and history, rather than pursuing his personal interest in continuing to visit the shrine.

NATSUKO FUKUE, Western
 

 
posted by lorenzo at 23:14