On Defense Minister Inada’s ongoing trip to Djibouti, seasoned political journalist Goto claimed on TV-Asahi that the tour was carefully arranged by the GOJ to prevent her from visiting Yasukuni Shrine on August 15. Asserting that there has been a “tacit understanding” between Tokyo, Beijing, and Seoul that the Japanese prime minister, the foreign minister, and the chief cabinet secretary would not pay homage, the analyst said the Abe administration chose to put the defense chief on this list to showcase its intention to pursue better ties with the two key neighbors.

In a related development, TBS reported that the Chinese Foreign Ministry released a statement last night in protest of Yasukuni visits by several members of the Abe cabinet. It said: “The visits reflect once again the Japanese government’s wrong attitude toward history issues.”