TOKYO - The war-linked Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo has announced on its official website that it will ban cosplay and the wearing of military-related attire on its premises.
"While visits by people who actually served in the military, wearing the clothing of the time, have largely disappeared as 80 years have passed since the end of the war, people with no relevant affiliation or qualification have increasingly been seen visiting in military uniforms," the statement on the website said.
Visitors to the shrine wearing military uniforms have been observed on the anniversary of the end of the war, which falls this Saturday. The statement said the ban is not targeted at a specific date, but is a policy applied "on the premises all year round."
Military-related attire worn based on a person's "affiliation or qualification," such as uniforms worn by members of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and military personnel from other countries, is exempt from the ban.
The ban is intended to maintain the "serenity and dignity" of the shrine, the statement said.
Yasukuni honors the souls of wartime leaders convicted as war criminals by a post-World War II international tribunal, along with around 2.5 million war dead.
Japan occupied a wide area of China by the end of the war and colonized the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945. Past visits to the shrine by Japanese leaders and ministers have drawn harsh backlash from the neighboring countries.
