Explosion damages toilet at Yasukuni shrine; nobody hurt

Thankfully no one was injured from this incident.

I'm glad no one was hurt. I'm also surprised that this is the first attack in that hateful place.

Truly a crappy situation. Violence begets violence.

For safety reasons, the shrine has cancelled accepting visits for the festival by children, it added

.But it's ok for adults to face the danger? Shut it down until it's safe and procedures are in place to prevent it from happening again! Do it the Japanese way, first set up a committee to asses the situation, (should take at least 6 months to find the right people appropriate for the job) then meet once a month to discuss procedures and safety measures, implementing them too......with luck the shrine should be closed at least a year!

I suspect this crude explosion may be the ruse of a right-wing extremist, attempting to whip up an anti-foreigner frenzy. The black-van neo-nazis will be frothing at the mouth in any case.

Anyway, I echo the other posters and am glad no harm was done in this regrettable incident.

it is a sacred place

Best thing there was at Yaskuni were the toilets . . . . damn!

I saw this on the news this morning and my MIL and husband (both Japanese) were cracking jokes about gas/someone smoking in the bathroom. Was a bit surprised at the lighthearted reaction but from the news story it didn't seem to be more than a teeny, tiny incident (I guess). I wouldn't go so far as to say it was some sort of smoke screen to play victim (although I guess it's possible) because people do occasionally throw firecrackers and the like at controversial areas in Japan... but it's pretty much always a lone nutter making some ill attempt at a political protest.

I wonder if C4 was used or just bog-standard explosives.

Why do that?

The ghost of Keith Moon?

What on earth is an "apparent" explosion?

Glad no one was hurt, and am not really surprised this has happened with all that's going on in terms of security legislation almost no one wants, a rise in militarism, and questionnaires about wanting to go to war and die for your country. Obviously someone who is against what the shrine stands for, and likely feels we are headed in the same militarist direction, without stopping to think that the way they did what they did is no different.

Agree with Yubaru -- the place should be shut to all visitors, children and adults, until it can be clear there is no more danger (of the explosive kind, anyway).

Do the they have anything to go on?

"it is a sacred place"

I enjoy sitting on it and reading the paper as much as the next man but I wouldn't go that far.

But it's ok for adults to face the danger? Shut it down until it's safe ...

Children can't think / make decision like adults. So if some adults want to visit the shrine, its up to them. However kids must not visit for safety reason.

Mary Hinge 69,

Do the they have anything to go on?

Probably not in the toilet area. After the "apparent" explosion, that is.

Probably better to "go" before you go, if you know what I mean.

Extreme righ wing from ROK or PRC has problems to understand the concept of Respect and Understanding!!!

Once again misguided hatred against a temple built in the late 1800s. Seems like it precedes WW2 sentimentalists that appear to think that Yasukuni appeared right after WW2. I really hate it when folks destroy historical places because of misplaced ignorance.

How is having an issue with a museum at the temple that whitewashes history misplaced ignorance? And how does the construction date exclude them from criticism for putting up said museum?

If the whitehouse suddenly put up a museum dedicated to pretending slavery was actually all good, and gave the slaves a better life, would you be ok with it simply since the whitehouse would be older than said museum?

I fail to see the relevance of the construction date to the issues people have with Yasukuni.

a non-event.

Doesn't seem like such a big deal. If I were the cops the first thing I would do is check to see if anyone has set up a taco cart outside the shrine entrance. I didn't see one the last time I was there but they tend to spring up where you least expect them to.

Explosions in public places are made to Kill & Terrorize innocent people, therefore this must be treated as an attempted "Terrorist Attack" and not just shrugged off as some crazy idiots failed attempt at blowing up Yasukuni Shrine.

What if this Crazy Idiot being a Domestic Citizen or some Foreigner / Extremist - sets off a bomb in a crowded Train Station and people die? What then?

This must be delt with swiftly - Public Safety is at stake here.

How is having an issue with a museum at the temple that whitewashes history misplaced ignorance? And how does the construction date exclude them from criticism for putting up said museum?

Dropping a cherry bomb into a toilet is not "having an issue". It's vandalism bordering on terrorism. That a battery and a lead wire were found makes me wonder if it was something more than just a cherry bomb. So yeah. Ignorance is a very apt adjective for this (these) person (people).

So the real question is, who's responsible for this ? ISIS ? Anti-Japan ? Opposing parties ? Yakuza ??? Or perhaps it's an inside job!

An apparent explosion?

C4 or firecrackers?

It was a matter of time before someone bombed that shrine! Given the controversy, they should close it down permanently!

I'm also surprised that this is the first attack in that hateful place.

Not the first. But this time, they aimed toire no kamisama...

It seems not "religious" reason. It must be "political" reason. Here Japan, the leftest have still strong influence in Japan.

The hole in the ceiling they have now announced is not related to the bang. I wish the reporting could be a little more clear on what they did and did not find there. Some sources say that a pipe bomb exploded, of which they found the parts, but there were four more sections of pipe found in the ceiling. There the reporting stops...

The hole in the ceiling they have now announced is not related to the bang.

The terrorist(s) seem to have made the hole before the bang.

Correct, Tim.

The most detailed Japanese news source I can find says the 30 cm square hole in the ceiling seems to have been opened manually and deliberately, and inside were four pipes, 3 cm in diameter and 20 cm long, bound together, with some kind of lead wire(s) coming from them. (On the floor were a charred timer circuit board and batteries.) The police are analyzing whether these pipes could also be part of a viable time bomb.

トイレの天井に何者かが開けたとみられる３０センチ四方の穴があり、中から直径およそ３センチ、長さ２０センチほどの鉄パイプ状の物４本が束ねられた状態で見つかりました。鉄パイプ状の物にはリード線が付いていたほか、床からは焦げた電池やデジタル表示の時計のような物も回収されたということです。 警視庁は周辺の防犯カメラの解析を進めるなどして、事件と現場近くから立ち去った男との関連を調べるとともに、見つかった鉄パイプ状の物が時限式の発火物の可能性もあるとみて、爆発物かどうか詳しく鑑定し、事件の狙いを捜査しています。

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20151124/k10010317181000.html

Other comments in the public domain seem to be divided on who would have done this. Some see hallmarks of the old sputtering Japanese domestic guerilla movements of the sixties and seventies.

the old sputtering Japanese domestic guerilla movements of the sixties and seventies.

They are all gone. Recent attacks at the shrine were done by Chinese who threw a petrol bomb and another with Japanese name. Police don't distinguish Korean residents and Korean Japanese and native Japanese except visiting Koreans.

Tina, although there are accusations on social media against resident Korean-Japanese going around, other voices of reason say we need to wait and see.

My wife and I visit that shrine once in a while. Nice place, very quiet.

The Metropolitan Police Dept. seems to think it showed echoes of home-grown "kagekiha" radical tactics, but that the thing failed to go off properly.

警視庁は、靖国神社を狙う過激派の手口を模倣した何者かが天井裏に金属製のパイプやタイマーなどを仕掛けたものの、うまく作動しなかった可能性があるとみて調べている。

http://www.news24.jp/articles/2015/11/23/07315605.html

@Mary Hinge 69

I guess a lot of crap ;) Glad nobody got hurt, as fireworks are easy procured here one could make a bomb from the powder.

An apparent explosion 2. Police dealt with suspicious objects that have not exploded 3. A hole in the ceiling of the public bathroom was discovered Sorry, if I was reading that police report, I'd be really confused :)

In that case they shouldn't be taking it out on the entire shrine. Just focus on dealing with the revisionist history being touted at the museum. Don't have to destroy a city to demolish one building.

An "apparent" explosion? This whole thing was just a flash in the pan.