Tokyo Shrine Explosion Targets Toilet, Prevents Children Visits

An explosion at a controversial Tokyo shrine damaged a public toilet and forced officials to cancel visits by children for safety reasons.

Authorities reported no injuries in the explosion that damaged the ceiling and floor of the toilet at the Yasukuni Shrine, reported BBC News. Batteries and wires were found at the scene, according to Tokyo Police, indicating that the explosion may have been an attack on the shrine.

The explosion created a 12-inch hole in the ceiling of the men's restroom, according to Reuters.

The Yasukuni Shrine, which the BBC News described as a source of friction between Japan and its former World War II foes China and Korea, is dedicated to Japan's war dead. The shrine includes 14 "Class A" war criminals.

"The Yasukuni Shrine is regarded as a symbol of Japan's past militarism and visits to the shrine by Japanese politicians have stoked protests from China and South Korea, where memories of Japanese occupation and colonialism before and during World War Two run deep," said Reuters.

More than 100 people were at the shrine for Japan's Labor Thanksgiving public holiday. Monday was the start of the country's annual Festival of First Fruits, said BBC News, and the shrine called off children's visits to the shrine after the explosion.

The shrine has been attacked before, said the Wall Street Journal. Authorities arrested a Japanese man after he set fire to one of the shrine structures last New Year's Eve and authorities apprehended a South Korean man for entering the shrine area with inflammable liquids in 2013.

According to the shrine's website, more than 2.4 million are remembered there from wars supporting Japan dating back to 1853.

"These people, regardless of their rank or social standing, are considered to be completely equal and worshipped as venerable divinities of Yasukuni," said the website. "Japanese people believe that their respect to and awe of the deceased is best expressed by treating the dead in the same manner as they were alive."


Related Stories:

• Okinawa Base to Relocate: Despite Protests, US Military Operations to Move
  
• Caroline Kennedy Death Threat Phone Calls Investigated in Japan