The shrine, Aug. 16 -- Shinjiro Koizumi, Japan's defense minister, walked into Yasukuni Shrine on Saturday and made no statement to the reporters waiting for him at the gate. He did not need to. In the governments of China and South Korea, the visit said everything that needed saying.

among them 14 military and civilian leaders convicted by Allied tribunals of the most serious war crimes, and more than 1,000 others found guilty of lesser offenses. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi did not attend in person but sent a ritual monetary offering. It was August 15, 2026, the 81st anniversary of Japan's unconditional surrender in the second world war.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not take long. "We strongly condemn" the offering and the...