Yakuskuni Shrine in Tokyo has become a lightning rod for controversy across East Asia. The shrine whose history dates back to 1869 was originally founded by the order of Emperor Meiji to commemorate those who died defending the Tokugawa Shogunate in the Boshin Civil War (1868-1869). Since that time the shrine’s “Book of Souls”, the names of soldiers and civilians who died fighting in the name of the Emperor, has grown to almost 250,000 names. 1,068 of these names are of soldiers and officers convicted of war crimes during WW2, 14 of these were convicted Class A (crimes against peace) war criminals, and this is the source of the controversy.
Since 1985 visits to Yasukuni by Japanese prime ministers and leading members of the ruling LDP party have been perceived by the people of China, North and South Korea, and Taiwan as representing a revisionist stance towards the atrocities perpetrated by the Imperial Army on the Asian mainland before and after the war.
This debate continues to rage in the new documentary “Yasukuni” directed by Chinese filmmaker Li Ying, but due to the films “anti-Japanese” the vast majority of theatres in Japan have refused to screen it.
Now, Mark Schilling is reporting at Variety Asia Online, that some theatres may still give the Japanese public a chance to see the documentary so that they can decide for themselves. You can read the full article here: http://www.varietyasiaonline.com/content/view/5814/1/
And for those of you who are lucky enough to be attending “Yasukuni” will be screening as part of this year’s Nippon Connection Festival in Frankfurt.
Since 1985 visits to Yasukuni by Japanese prime ministers and leading members of the ruling LDP party have been perceived by the people of China, North and South Korea, and Taiwan as representing a revisionist stance towards the atrocities perpetrated by the Imperial Army on the Asian mainland before and after the war.
This debate continues to rage in the new documentary “Yasukuni” directed by Chinese filmmaker Li Ying, but due to the films “anti-Japanese” the vast majority of theatres in Japan have refused to screen it.
Now, Mark Schilling is reporting at Variety Asia Online, that some theatres may still give the Japanese public a chance to see the documentary so that they can decide for themselves. You can read the full article here: http://www.varietyasiaonline.com/content/view/5814/1/
And for those of you who are lucky enough to be attending “Yasukuni” will be screening as part of this year’s Nippon Connection Festival in Frankfurt.
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