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Be Sure Not to Resurrect the Evil Souls: Commentary
From the attitude repeatedly expressed by Junichiro Koizumi about his understanding of history in less than one month after he held the post as Japan's new Prime Minister, people cannot help feeling worries over the dangerous tendency in his understanding of history.
On May 9, in his reply to questions at the Diet he indicated that he would pay respect to the Yasukuni Shrine in personal capacity. On May 14, at the Budget Committee of the House of Representatives, he once again indicated that he would pay homage to Yasukuni Shrine in the capacity of Prime Minister and declared that he would not give up visit to the Shrine just because of outsiders' criticisms. As a senior politician, this Japanese Prime Minister would not be unaware of the fact that the people of Asian countries who had suffered from the aggression of Japan's militarism have always expressed opposition to and indignation at the practice of Japanese government officials paying homage to the Yasukuni Shrine, then why does he cling obstinately to his own course?
First, it is against the background that the rightist trend of thought in the Japanese society has raised its head and the "Hawk" within the Liberal Democratic Party is in power. In the contest for the presidency of the Liberal Democratic Party, Junichiro Koizumi's main opponent was Ryutaro Hashimoto. At the crucial moment of the election, Eto-Kamei gave up his cooperation with Ryutaro Hashimoto and instead supported Junichiro Koizumi, so that Junichiro Koizumi gained the upper hand in the contest. The faction of Yoshiro Mori to which Junichiro Koizumi belongs was originated from the Kishi Nobusuke faction, has always had a strong hue of the Kawk, the Eto-Kamei faction, was also belonging to the hardline "Hauk" within the Liberaal Democratic Party, the alliance of the two "Hawks" has quickened the right-deviationist tendency of the Liberal Democratic Party. Moreover, former Prime Minister Nakasone Yasuhiro who had the greatest influence on the Eto-Kamei faction, was the first evil doer who paid respect to the said Shrine in the capacity of Japanese Prime Minister after World War II. At the time, Obuchi and Yoshiro Mori, obeying the advice of the Dove within the Liberal Democratic Party after becoming prime ministers, resigned from their post as president of the "association of letting everyone pay homage to the Yasukuni Shrine" and acted prudently in questions relating to paying homage to the Shrine. Now that the "Hauk" in the Liberal Democratic Party is on the upper hand and there is no restraint from the "Dove", so Junichiro Koizumi has gone so far as to repeatedly indicate that he would pay respect to the Shrine, this is not something out of people's expectations.
Second, Junichiro Koizumi gained votes by deliberately using the souls of the deceased. The Senate election will take place in July, currently the seats of the Liberal Democratic Party in the Senate is less than half of the total, although Junichiro Koizumi does not cherish the extravagant hope of gaining over half of the seats at one stroke in the July election, the lowest standard he set is not fewer than the present seats. If it suffers a crushing defeat in the election, then Ryutaro Hashimoto, who resigned after the Senate election in 1998, will serve as a warning. At present, Japan is faced with a sluggish economy, a depressed stock market, increased unemployment and a general feeling of insecurity. Ten years have elapsed since the collapse of the bubble economy, Japan's economy is still too weak to gain a recovery .The Japanese who always have the feeling of being "the top student in the world economy" have suffered greatly in their self-respect and self-confidence. The Japanese are known worldwide for their sense of worries and hardships, when analyzing the characteristics of the Japanese nation, a famous US expert in the problems relating to Japan said that whenever Japan feels a crisis, it exhibits an extremely strong "national sense". Junichiro Koizumi's intention is conforming with the impetuous nationalist trend of thought and highlighting the strong color of preferring to be right than left, thinking this would help him get more votes. It's a pity that this device lacks the minimal political wisdom which is clear even to ordinary people and is evidently a trick used to resurrect the evil souls.
The right-wing forces which instigate government officials to pay homage to the Yasukuni Shrine represent an adverse current in the Japanese society. If the government deliberately panders to and guide the right-wingers and turn them into the dominant forces of the Japanese society, it is bound to arouse the vigilance of the people of the world.
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