首相・閣僚、靖国参拝せず　秋季例大祭が終了

　靖国神社（東京・九段北）の秋季例大祭が１９日、終了した。石破茂首相は初日の１７日に祭具の真榊（まさかき）を奉納。一方で期間中に参拝はせず、閣僚の参拝も確認されなかった。
　今回の秋季例大祭は衆院選の選挙期間と重なったため、自民党関係者の参拝は高市早苗前経済安全保障担当相ら少人数にとどまった。超党派の「みんなで靖国神社に参拝する国会議員の会」は選挙後に集団参拝する方向で調整している。（2024/10/19-20:21）

No Japanese cabinet ministers, including Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, were seen to have visited war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo during its three-day autumn festival that ended on Saturday.
   Ishiba only made a ritual "masakaki" tree offering at the Shinto shrine, which is regarded as a symbol of Japan's past militarism by neighboring countries as it honors Class-A war criminals along with the war dead.
   Only a few Liberal Democratic Party members visited the shrine in the middle of the official campaign period for the Oct. 27 election of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Japan's parliament. Among the handful was former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi.
   A nonpartisan group of lawmakers to visit the shrine together is arranging to make a collective visit after the Lower House election.