Takaichi unlikely to visit Yasukuni Shrine on Liberation Day, sources say

Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae is not expected to visit Yasukuni Shrine on Aug. 15 — the day Korea marks as Liberation Day and Japan observes as the anniversary of its World War II defeat — Japanese media reported.

Kyodo News and Jiji Press reported Wednesday that Takaichi is working to forgo a visit to the shrine on Saturday.

Kyodo News said Takaichi appears to have weighed the risk that a visit could fracture the recently improving trajectory of South Korea-Japan relations and trilateral South Korea-US-Japan cooperation. The decision is also seen as an effort to minimize diplomatic fallout by accounting for the likelihood of a strong backlash from China.

Takaichi had previously made regular visits to Yasukuni Shrine during the spring and autumn grand festivals as well as on Aug. 15.

During the Liberal Democratic Party leadership election last October, she said she would visit the shrine upon becoming prime minister and argued that such visits should not be treated as a diplomatic issue.

However, since taking office, she has not visited in person and has instead offered only ritual items in her own name.

Yasukuni Shrine commemorates about 2.466 million people who died in Japan's civil conflicts around the Meiji Restoration and in wars waged by Imperial Japan.

It has drawn persistent objections from neighboring countries including South Korea and China, particularly because it enshrines Class-A war criminals from the Pacific War — among them former Prime Minister Tojo Hideki, who was executed following the International Military Tribunal for the Far East.

At a press conference on Aug. 7, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Kihara Minoru said of whether Takaichi would visit or offer ritual items at Yasukuni Shrine: "That is something the prime minister herself will judge appropriately, and the same goes for me."