Japan's defence minister visits Yasukuni on August 15, 2026
Japan’s defence minister Koizumi Shinjiro visited Yasukuni Shrine shortly after 7am on August 15, 2026, the first sitting defence minister to do so since Kihara Minoru in 2024, while Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae sent a ritual offering in her capacity as party leader rather than visiting, and South Korea’s defence ministry summoned Japan’s defence attaché to protest
The three lines
- The visit — Koizumi Shinjiro, defence minister, at about 7am; the first sitting defence minister at the shrine in two years. Okinawa and Northern Territories minister Kikawada Hitoshi also visited
- The prime minister — Takaichi Sanae withheld a personal visit and sent a tamagushi offering in her capacity as LDP president, visiting Tokyo's war memorial cemetery instead
- Seoul's response — the defence ministry summoned Japan's defence attaché Nagayoshi Takeshi; policy director Kim Hak-jo said the ministry 'cannot but lament' the visit
Key questions
- Which Japanese officials visited Yasukuni on August 15, 2026?
- Two sitting cabinet ministers. Defence Minister Koizumi Shinjiro visited shortly after 7am, and Kikawada Hitoshi, minister for Okinawa and Northern Territories, visited and made an offering. Separately, the LDP leadership made an unusual group visit: Secretary General Suzuki Shunichi, General Council Chair Arimura Haruko and Election Strategy Committee Chair Nishimura Yasutoshi. Cross-party parliamentary groups and conservative LDP figures also took part.
- Why didn't the prime minister go?
- Takaichi Sanae withheld a personal visit, reportedly weighing reactions from South Korea and China on her first anniversary of the surrender as prime minister. She sent a tamagushi ritual offering in her capacity as LDP president rather than as prime minister — a formal distinction Japanese leaders have used repeatedly — and visited Tokyo's war memorial cemetery instead. The reasoning is press interpretation; she has not confirmed it herself.
- Why does a defence minister's visit carry more weight?
- Because of the office. The defence minister commands the Self-Defence Forces. Yasukuni enshrines Japan's war dead, and since 1978 that includes fourteen Class-A war criminals — among them Koiso Kuniaki, a former Governor-General of Korea. When the person holding the military portfolio visits, the act reads differently in Seoul than a visit by another minister, which is why South Korea's response came from the defence ministry rather than the foreign ministry.
August 15 is Liberation Day in Korea and the anniversary of surrender in Japan. One date, two names.
In 2026, shortly after 7am on that date, Japan's defence minister walked into Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.
1. Who went, and who did not
| Person | Office | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Koizumi Shinjiro | Defence Minister | Visited in person (~7am) |
| Kikawada Hitoshi | Minister for Okinawa and Northern Territories | Visited, made an offering |
| Suzuki Shunichi | LDP Secretary General | Visited |
| Arimura Haruko | LDP General Council Chair | Visited |
| Nishimura Yasutoshi | LDP Election Strategy Chair | Visited |
| Takaichi Sanae | Prime Minister | Offering only, no visit |
Two sitting ministers visited, and the LDP leadership made an unusual group visit. Cross-party parliamentary groups and conservative LDP figures also took part.
2. Why the defence portfolio matters
No sitting defence minister had visited since Kihara Minoru in 2024 — a two-year gap.
The defence minister commands the Self-Defence Forces. Yasukuni is a shrine to Japan's war dead, and since 1978 it has enshrined fourteen Class-A war criminals — including Koiso Kuniaki, a former Governor-General of Korea. The combination is why this particular office visiting is read differently from any other minister, and why Seoul's response came from the defence ministry rather than the foreign ministry.
Koizumi himself is not new to this. He visited every August 15 while serving as agriculture minister and as environment minister. Taking the defence portfolio did not change the habit.
3. The prime minister's formal choice
Takaichi Sanae sent a tamagushi ritual offering instead of visiting. The formality is doing work.
| Element | Choice |
|---|---|
| Capacity | LDP president, not prime minister |
| Method | Offering only, no personal visit |
| Her own schedule | Tokyo's war memorial cemetery |
A prime-ministerial visit engages both the constitutional separation of religion and state and the diplomatic fallout at once. An offering made in the party capacity sidesteps both while still signalling to the domestic base. Japanese leaders have used this compromise repeatedly.
Reporting attributed the decision to weighing reactions from South Korea and China on her first anniversary of the surrender as prime minister. That is interpretation; Takaichi has not confirmed a reason herself.
4. Seoul's response
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Action | Summoned Japan's defence attaché in Seoul |
| Person summoned | Nagayoshi Takeshi (Air Self-Defence Force) |
| Protesting official | Kim Hak-jo, director of defence policy |
| Language | "Cannot but lament"; conveyed grave concern |
The argument was about the relationship: the visit runs directly counter to both countries' efforts to build a future-oriented relationship grounded in trust.
That sentence sits against another one issued in Seoul the same day. In his Liberation Day address, President Lee Jae-myung committed to cooperation with Japan while saying it must extend "warm consideration to those still enduring the suffering of that history." On the same morning, in Tokyo, the defence minister was at Yasukuni. The address is covered in "Korea's Liberation Day address 2026."
5. What is not settled
No confirmed foreign ministry response. What this article establishes ends at the defence ministry's summons.
No official Japanese explanation. Whether the visits were made in a personal or official capacity has not been clarified by Tokyo.
The full number of participants is unknown. Two ministers and three LDP executives are confirmed; the cross-party and conservative-faction turnout was not tallied.
What Yasukuni is, and why these visits recur as a diplomatic event every August, is set out in "What Yasukuni Shrine is — and the year fourteen war criminals entered it."
Sources
- Newspim — Korea's defence ministry protests Koizumi's Yasukuni visit, summons Japan's defence attaché
- New Daily — Takaichi withholds visit, sends offering; defence minister and LDP executives go
- Hankyung — Two Japanese cabinet ministers including Koizumi visit Yasukuni, per Kyodo
- Herald Business — Takaichi sends an offering to Yasukuni; defence minister Koizumi visits in person
- Insight — Japan's defence minister Koizumi visits Yasukuni; PM Takaichi sends offering
- Gukje News — Japan's defence minister Koizumi visits Yasukuni; PM Takaichi sends offering
- SPN Seoul Pyongyang News — Takaichi sends offering instead of visiting; Koizumi visits (roundup)