Shinzo Abe edges towards nationalist dream of rewriting post-war constitution as Japan goes to the polls

Japanese Shinto priests attend a ritual during an autumn festival at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo
Japanese Shinto priests attend a ritual during an autumn festival at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo

It’s a drizzly Friday morning and housewife Hiroko Nishikawa is praying with her three-year-old daughter at an autumn festival in a Tokyo shrine.

Young priestesses glide along stone paths in white and scarlet robes, traditional dancers sway beneath a gate and a martial arts expert demonstrates the art of withdrawing a sword on a wooden stage.

This may sound like a typical family outing – except this is no ordinary shrine. It is here that the memory of 2.4 million Japanese killed at war are honoured, including more than 1,000 convicted war criminals, 14 of whom are Class A category.

Yasukuni Shrine is perhaps one of the most controversial places in Japan. Long regarded as a symbol of Japan’s wartime militarism, countless visits by rightwing politicians – including the prime minister Shinzo Abe in 2013 – have sparked diplomatic spats with China and South Korea.

It’s also a place that embodies one of the most challenging issues facing contemporary Japan as it prepares to go to the polls in Sunday's general elections – Mr Abe’s determination to rewrite the nation’s pacifist postwar constitution against an uneasy backdrop of growing instability on the Korean Peninsula.

Women wearing kimonos walk through lit paper lanterns during the Mitama Matsuri summer festival at Yasukuni Shrine
Women wearing kimonos walk through lit paper lanterns during the Mitama Matsuri summer festival at Yasukuni Shrine

“I am not sure about Abe as a leader,” says Mrs Nishikawa, 43, dressed respectfully in top-to-toe black. “He projects a strong position on issues but it doesn’t seem real.

“But I will vote LDP in the election. The issue I’m most worried about is North Korea. Japan has become numb to peace. I think the constitution should be amended. It’s important that Japan recognises the need to protect itself. This will give Japan a sense of being in control of itself.”

Mr Abe may be a deeply divisive leader but his calculated gamble of calling an early snap election appears to be paying off. The latest polls predict a landslide victory – helped, no doubt, by the North Korean threat fuelling an underlying conservatism among voters such as Mrs Nishikawa.

Such a success would pave the way for the 63-year-old conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leader to govern Japan until 2021 - and help him achieve his dream of rewriting the constitution, in particular war-renouncing Article 9, with the goal of more clearly defining the existence of Japan’s Self-Defence Forces.

This would provide a high-profile follow up to a particularly colourful few weeks in the normally sedate world of Japanese politics. Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike stole the show shortly after Mr Abe announced the snap election last month by unveiling her new Party of Hope (Kibo No To), with a populist manifesto pledging zero nuclear power by 2030.

The leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan then took the unprecedented step of urging members to run as candidates for Party of Hope, casting its own survival in doubt.

Members of Japan's Self-Defence Forces' infantry unit march during the annual SDF ceremony at Asaka Base
Members of Japan's Self-Defence Forces' infantry unit march during the annual SDF ceremony at Asaka Base

However, the Party of Hope campaign soon lost momentum after Ms Koike announced she would not be running as a candidate – and will in fact be attending a global mayor conference in Paris on the day of the election.

Meanwhile, more liberal DPJ members regrouped as yet another new group the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, which was outpolling the Party of Hope by the eve of the election.

Michiaki Okuyama, a professor at the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture in Aichi Prefecture, highlighted how North Korean instability was fuelling Japan’s nationalism – with Yasukuni Shrine a potentially powerful tool in securing conservative votes.

“Regional instability is pushing voters – particularly young Japanese - towards a growing sense of nationalism,” he told the Telegraph. “The growing power of China, unstable relations with South Korea, the unpredictable future of North Korea and difficult negotiations with Russia — all are fueling nationalist sentiment.”

Mr Abe is acutely aware of Yasukuni’s complex significance. Six days before the election, he sent a ritual offering of a sacred tree to the shrine for its auspicious autumn festival – clearly aware that a visit would overshadow his election campaign.

Shinzo Abe, Japan's prime minister, arrives at his official residence in Tokyo, Japan
Shinzo Abe, Japan's prime minister, arrives at his official residence in Tokyo, Japan

“Recent statistics show stable support for LDP and the Abe administration among younger generations under the age of 30 - and Yasukuni Shrine also seems to be attracting more members of younger generations than before,” added Professor Okuyama.

“The PM probably wants to appeal to a younger generation of nationalists and his connection to Yasukuni Shrine may look appealing. Even if visits cause tension with neighbouring countries, politicians can appropriate such occasions in order to show their patriotic stance.”  Yasukuni Shrine is a place visibly tinged with nationalism. Extreme rightwing political groups known as “uyoku dantai” regularly gather rowdily in vans on its fringes and police presence is high.

Meanwhile, gift shops sell national anthem T-shirts, Japanese flags and even boxes of cakes emblazoned with cartoon-style images of PM Mr Abe and other rightwing icons.

But shrine visitors are not confined to nationalists: many Japanese come to pay their respects to wartime ancestors without sharing Mr Abe’s rightwing sentiments.

Among them is Etsuko Yonemura, a 73-year-old grandmother who travelled from her home in northern Gunma Prefecture to honour her father.

“He was killed in Okinawa in 1945 when I was just a couple of years old,” she explains. “I only ever knew him from photographs. I came here to honour his memory.”

Japanese Shinto priests attend a ritual during an autumn festival at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo
Japanese Shinto priests attend a ritual during an autumn festival at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo Credit:  REUTERS

She added: “The prime minister is very shortsighted. He says what he thinks people want to hear but there is often no meaning. What I want is for politicians to talk about peace.

“I am very worried that things are currently heading in a bad direction. I do not want my children and grandchildren growing up in such a situation.”

Liberal Japanese without ancestors honoured at the shrine may be a rarity - unless  like Chika Hiruma, 51, a sales manager, they are taking a short cut through the grounds to get to work.

“I do not support people who admire Yasukuni. I don’t like that they want to turn these war criminals into heroes – that is completely wrong. The whole idea is based on celebrating wartime militarism which I don’t agree with. This shrine is not about Shinto - it’s a celebration of Japanese militarism.”

She pauses to rummage in her handbag before revealing a sticker on her iPhone which resembles a Chanel perfume ad – but carries a more potent message opposing constitutional reform: “No 9. No War. Love and Peace.”

She adds: “The prime minister wants to take Japan back to what it was like before World War Two. The name of his party and the realities of what they are doing are completely different – they are not liberal and they are not democratic.”

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