Le Pen, European Nationalists Visit Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine to Honor Dead

French National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen and other European nationalist party representatives visited the Yasukuni war shrine in Tokyo today to pay respect to Japanese who died in World War II.

Le Pen joined British National Party member Adam Walker and the other European and Japanese nationalists at the shrine, Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi, a member of the Japanese right- wing group Issuikai, said by phone. Yasukuni honors Japan’s war dead including convicted war criminals.

The group of about 20 attended the shrine for about 90 minutes today, said Yamaguchi of Issuikai, which invited the European representatives. The visit took place a day before the 65th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II.

The Europeans’ Tokyo visit included a “patriots’ gathering” to discuss topics including immigration and Islam, according to Issuikai’s website.

Politicians’ visits to Yasukuni have drawn protests from Asian countries including China and South Korea, which have accused the visitors of attempting to glorify Japan’s militarist era. No members of Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s cabinet will visit the shrine tomorrow, Kyodo News reported on Aug. 10.

Sadakazu Tanigaki, leader of Japan’s opposition Liberal Democratic Party, plans to visit the shrine tomorrow, Kyodo reported on Aug. 12.

To contact the reporters on this story: Stuart Biggs in Tokyo at Sbiggs3@bloomberg.net Sachiko Sakamaki in Tokyo at Ssakamaki1@bloomberg.net

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