In class we had a discussion about the recent visits by Prime Minister Koizumi to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine. There were many opinions. To start off with, I will list the reasons for allowing Koizumi to make the visits. It is interesting to note, however that almost nobody gave a reason why visiting the shrine was a good thing, but rather most of the'for' reasons were reasons why he shouldn't be forced to stop visiting the shrine.

-For-
  One reason 'for' was that we should forget the bad things in the past, so the history of a shrine should not matter. Another was that it is a Japanese shrine, so opinions about it from other countries shouldn't matter. Along the same lines it was suggested that pressure from outside Japan should not be allowed to control domestic policies about what a politician is allowed to do, and frankly, what some Chinese people think about the shrine makes no difference. Furthermore, they shouldn't have burned the flag.  It was also mentioned that it should be Koizumi's personal decision whether he wants to go or not, and he has the right to go if he wants to.

  Speaking more about religion, someone said that there is nothing wrong with worshipping the souls of soldiers that died in war, but then Mr. Walsh pointed out that the problem was the Class A War Criminals that were secretly put into the list of names to be worshipped in 1978, and when it was found out in 1979, the Emperor decided to never visit the shrine again. Mr. Walsh also said that since then only three Prime Ministers have visited the shrine; Nakasone, Tanaka, and Koizumi, all known as 'War Hawks', those who want a more powerful Japan even if it means fighting in a war. ( Note: Do you remember what Mr. Kami told us about war last year? ) Interestingly someone suggested that the Class A War Criminals were also victims of the war.

-Against-
 The main reason that Koizumi should stop the visits is that it is bad for international relations. Many countries are angry about it and it is causing problems. We need to improve our relationship with China for the future. It was mentioned that putting the Class A war criminals in the list of names was the main mistake.

-Solutions-
  Many interesting solutions were thought of. Some people said we should just ignore the problem, but Mr. Walsh asked "Is that a solution?" Someone said Mr. Koizumi should go if he wants to, but he should go secretly without announcing it, and not make it an official visit. Many people mentioned there should be more talks about the past and how the different countries can find a way to deal with the past, but keep our pride as nations.