Koizumi’s Yasukuni Visit Revives Diplomatic Risk for Japan

Tokyo, 15 August 2026 – Japan’s defence minister, Shinjiro Koizumi, visited Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine on the anniversary of the country’s 1945 surrender, reviving a recurring diplomatic fault line with China and South Korea. The visit carries no direct economic policy change, but it can complicate regional engagement at a time when security, trade and industrial cooperation are increasingly intertwined.

Yasukuni commemorates Japan’s war dead, including wartime leaders convicted after the Second World War. Visits by serving ministers are therefore interpreted differently inside and outside Japan. Supporters describe them as personal acts of remembrance, while neighbouring countries see official attendance as a test of whether Tokyo fully acknowledges the suffering caused by its wartime expansion.