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Paper short abstract

From the 1980s Yasukuni was reframed as a more controversial site in British media, but this coverage was not necessarily from a ‘British’ angle. Chinese and Korean objections have become the primary focus, marking Yasukuni as a global symbol of Japanese international criticism within wider Britain.

Paper long abstract

This research paper traces the evolving representation of Yasukuni Shrine in the British media from the early postwar period to the present day, highlighting a significant shift in both the framing and function of the shrine within British reporting on Japan. Initially, Yasukuni was barely referenced and, when mentioned, was treated as an unremarkable site commemorating Japan’s war dead. This relative indifference is understandable and not that surprising in a pre-1978 context, which was before the enshrinement of several Class A war criminals at the shrine. This does not mean there were no controversies however, with scattered concern underscoring public relations in the British press during the 1970s, such as the 1975 Royal Visit and the proposal for the Queen to go to Yasukuni for example.

From the 1980s onwards however, Yasukuni became an increasingly more controversial subject in British media coverage. While the shrine continued to be presented as inappropriate or problematic, the rationale for reporting on it changed. No longer was it primarily a source of British concern, but a broad symbol of unresolved wartime memory in East Asia over Japan’s actions during the Second World War. British resentment and moral judgement dramatically gave way to reporting about Chinese and Korean objections, completely reframing Yasukuni as a solely East Asian flashpoint of transnational historical and diplomatic tensions. This dramatic reframing has never been fully explored to my knowledge, despite this change only becoming more rooted and prevalent.

My research is important for it will highlight and explain how British media have mediated and reassigned Yasukuni as a historical controversy that exists effectively devoid of any immediate British interest. This change, I theorise, is largely related to the memory of World War Two, especially East of Suez, becoming ever distant, leaving any flashpoints of ‘British’ outrage increasingly irrelevant and seemingly less ‘newsworthy’ as a result. My paper will show how Yasukuni news, situated within the wider British media environment, has become increasingly oriented toward foreign controversy, outrage, and polarisation as the memory of British concerns or angst at Japan has nationally faded.