Newest Yasukuni Shrine Controversy

With only six months left in the Heisei Emperor's reign left to go, Emperor Akihito and the Yasukuni Shrine (as seen in this AFP photo) have become the subject of a new controversy. The  had recently criticized the Emperor in the Shukan Post weekly magazine accusing him of "trying to destroy the shrine" which is best known for enshrining it's war dead going back to the Boshin War of the 1860's. Naturally, all controversies revolve around the enshrinement of twelve WWII Class A War Criminals including Hideki Tojo. Emperor Akihito has not visited the Shrine since he was made Emperor in 1989 but has been visiting the grave sites and memorials to Japan's War dead elsewhere. Japan Today reports that the new Emperor and Empress has no plans to visit the shrine to avoid such optics. Meanwhile, chief priest Kunio Kohori has since regretted his inappropriate comments that included a claim that the future empress hating Shinto. From our perspective, this is a very unfortunate event that will hopefully not mar or cast a dark shadow over the Twilight of the Heisei Era. We like Emperor Akihito and we also love Shinto. This should not have happened and we suspect there was a harsh reprimand from the Imperial Household Agency. Chief priest Kunio Kohori has since apologized for his comments and is said to resign from his position. A successor will be named at some future date.