Prime Minister Abe Shinzo on a previous visit to the Yasukuni Shrine.
The most commented-on article of the day on Yahoo! Japan was based on a New York Times editorial that suggested that Abe’s sweeping victory in the recent Upper House election was about economics, and not about his right-wing nationalist foreign policy.
While the original English article was less than accommodating of issues such as Abe’s attitude toward historical revisionism and visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, the precis of the article in Japanese glosses over a lot of what was implied in the editorial.
Still, netizens did not agree with the US newspaper’s analysis of Japan’s political climate, with many warning that the US should stay out domestic affairs.
From Yahoo! Japan:
US Newspaper Editorial Warns Prime Minister Abe That Visiting Yasukuni Shrine Will Erode Political Foundations
On July 22, the US newspaper The New York Times carried an editorial in its digital edition entitled “Opportunity and Risk in Japan” regarding the ruling party’s landslide victory in the Upper House elections. The editorial indicated that Abe Shinzo’s economic policies were supported in the election. However the editorial also issued a warning that should Abe press on with visits to the Yasukuni Shrine and strengthening defense capacity, which antagonises China, an important trading partner of Japan, then “[this would] erode the economic progress and promise of stable political leadership”.
Furthermore, the editorial also cautioned the Prime Minister that “Abe should not treat the results as an endorsement of his historical revisionism, his strong remarks toward China, nor his thoughts regarding constitutional revision that would expand the role of the Japanese Self Defense Forces”.
Comments from Yahoo! Japan:
[In order of most upvoted]
mur**umono*u*i（mur…）さん:
This editorial is hugely mistaken!
I bet they even got money from Korea for writing this.
It is quite reasonable for a Prime Minister to pray at a shrine for fallen heroes who gave their lives for this country!!
hyp**_bvd（hyp…）さん:
The NY Times is just one local US newspaper. The US is a diverse country, there’s not just one opinion on things.
The distorted information of Jiji Press [the original source of the Japanese article; similar to Reuters] is more of a problem; it presents this NY Times editorial as the consensus of American opinion.
Honestly, it seems as though they’re guiding public opinion in favour of China and Korea.
Give all this distorted reporting a break!
una（una…）さん:
It’s none of their business!!!
げんちゃん（atu…）さん:
Don’t stick your nose into Japan’s domestic political problems.
mur**umono*u*i（mur…）さん
My own uncle is asleep at Yasukuni.
As his descendant, I want the Prime Minister of Japan to officially pray at the shrine!!
ずりこん総理（aya…）さん:
Praying at Yasukuni is the duty of Japanese citizens. Other countries have no business complaining about it.
say*a*go252*（say…）さん:
The New York Times judges its content on a similar premise to the position that is taken by the Asahi Shimbun in Japan. (笑)
That’s to say that it’s not really suited to the huge diversity of public opinion in the US.
あくび（aku…）さん:
So it’s not an issue when China antagonises us, but it’s bad for us to antagonise China? Anyway, foreigners have no business grumbling about how we commemorate our ancestors in the first place.
ヌーボ（dog…）さん:
Let’s just stop paying the US Army the big bucks already, they’re not bothered about defending Japan.
We should be defending our own country ourselves.
goj**on50（goj…）さん
Who they fuck do they think they are, “warning” us.
太郎（hid…）さん:
Doesn’t America lay flowers at Arlington Cemetery?
What is so different about praying at Yasukuni?
Is it because Japan’s war was a war of aggression?
Wasn’t it the Americans who brought the war?
Japan’s war was one of self-defence, where Japan represented Asia in order to escape from US colonial domination.
Stop always saying inconsistent things, and just shut the fuck up.
****!（kao…）さん:
Isn’t the main cause of this the fact that the US is taking such a vague attitude towards Senkaku?
goj**on50（goj…）さん:
This newspaper wants to make Japan a tributary state to the US forever.
wef*ton（wef…）さん:
Even if the US President went to Arlington, no one in Japan would complain.
niponia_nippon1（ter…）さん:
The New York Times and the Washington Post are famous left-wing newspapers, and they get a fair bit of money coming in from China, too. Well, to put it bluntly, don’t interfere in domestic politics! It’s got nothing to do with you!!!
シュルツ司令とガンツの顔射衛生法（tak…）さん:
It’s fine. This is why we’re desinicizing
