Forty years ago today, on August 15, 1985 (June 29, 1985), the Japanese Prime Minister paid his first official visit to the Yasukuni Shrine. Nakasone Japan's Yasukuni Shrine was originally a spiritualism shrine. It was renamed and upgraded to a national shrine in 1874. It was managed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of the Army, and the Ministry of the Navy. It was used to pay tribute to those who died in various wars since the end of the shogunate. By the end of World War II, a total of 2.50 million spiritual places were sacrificed, including militarists such as Class A war criminal Hideki Tojo. Therefore, official visits to the shrine have always been a sensitive political issue. On August 15, 1975, Prime Minister Takeo Miki visited in a "private capacity". In November 1980, the government announced that the official visits of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers were not unconstitutional. In April 1984, the Liberal Democratic Party passed a resolution that the official visits were in line with the constitution. On August 15, 1985, Nakasone and other cabinet ministers officially visited the Yasukuni Shrine. This move caused strong opposition in Japan and abroad. The Chinese government condemned the move as hurting the feelings of the Asian people and severely criticized it. The Japanese cabinet ministers after Nakasone did not visit again.