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News Navigator: Is it the prime minister's duty to visit Ise Jingu shrine?
The Mainichi answers some common questions readers may have about the prime minister's semi-annual visit to Ise Jingu shrine and its implications for the separation of church and state.
Question: Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama visited Ise Jingu shrine in Ise, Mie Prefecture, recently, and it seems that the prime minister goes every year. Is this a set custom?
Answer: It is not a "set" custom as such, but it has become convention. The first prime minister to visit Ise Jingu in the post-war period was Hatoyama's grandfather Ichiro in 1955, and prime ministers have been visiting the shrine almost every year around New Year since Eisaku Sato did so in 1965. Some say the visits became regular after the opening of the Tokaido bullet train line, allowing one-day round-trips to Ise from Tokyo and limiting the visits' impact on the prime minister's official business.
Q: There are quite a few shrines in Tokyo. Why does the prime minister go all the way to Ise?
A: The Ise Jingu shrine honors the Imperial family's legendary ancestor, the sun goddess Amaterasu Omikami, making it the most significant shrine in the country. The Association of Shinto Shrines (Jinja Honcho), the supervisory body for the majority of Shinto shrines, even gives Ise Jingu a unique designation -- "honso" -- to mark it out against all others. Furthermore, as a shrine representing Japan, it has long been a popular pilgrimage site. It is also believed by some that, as the prime minister is representative of the Japanese nation, it is appropriate for him to visit Ise Jingu.
Q: Is it part of the prime minister's job?
A: No, shrine visits are not part of the prime minister's official duties. From the perspective of the separation of church and state, the prime minister is strictly visiting Ise Jingu as a private citizen, not as the head of the government. For example, the cost of sacred tree branches used in the visits are not borne by the public purse, but comes from the prime minister's own money. However, as a number of Cabinet ministers usually accompany the prime minister to Ise, some have said that the visits cannot be considered "private."
Q: Even though both Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo and Ise Jingu are both Shinto shrines, there's always a lot of protest over prime ministerial visits to Yasukuni, but none over visits to Ise. Why is that?
A: When former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi came under criticism for his visits to Yasukuni Shrine, he used a similar argument, saying, "Why is it all right to visit Ise Jingu, but wrong to visit Yasukuni Shrine?" However, there is criticism of prime ministerial visits to Ise based on the separation of church and state.
What's different about Yasukuni Shrine is that until the end of World War II it served as the shrine for the Japanese nation to revere the souls of its war dead, and enshrined convicted Class-A war criminals after the war. This makes praying at Yasukuni Shrine a controversial act for a sitting prime minster, but no such problems exist around visits to Ise Jingu. (Answers by Muru Yamada, Political News Department)
Click here for the original Japanese story
(Mainichi Japan) January 10, 2010