SHRINE WORSHIP: This file photo shows a scene of Japanese parliamentarians visiting the Yasukuni Shrine on April 21, 2006. This year, only one of Prime Minister Taro Aso's cabinet ministers participated in the worship on August 15 (XINHUA/AFP)

The date of August 15 in Japan was quite different in 2009 from in previous years. Unlike in the past, fewer politicians attended the Yasukuni Shrine worship on the specific date that marked the 64th anniversary of Japan's surrender and the end of the World War II.

As time changes, debates on this historical issue are no longer a focus of the general elections in Japan, said Feng Zhaokui, a senior research fellow at the Institute of Japanese Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. "Japanese politicians have no longer considered Yasukuni Shrine worship as a good tactic to attract more votes," he said.

The Yasukuni Shrine remains a sensitive topic that can easily cause tensions between Japan and its Asian neighbors. The shrine, located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, is dedicated to the spirits of soldiers and others who died in war.

It collected memorial tablets from war criminals of World War II, including 14 Class A war criminals, in 1978. Since then, Japanese Emperor Hirohito stopped attending the worship ceremonies there.

Current Emperor Akihito has never even participated in the shrine worship since ascending the throne. Former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who was in office from 2001 to 2006, visited the shrine six times as the sitting prime minister. His shrine visits, in turn, hurt Japan's relations with its Asian neighbors—countries that suffered heavily under the march of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.

This year, neither Prime Minister and leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Taro Aso, nor leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan Yukio Hatoyama appeared at the shrine worship. Instead, Aso attended a memorial ceremony for the millions of Japan's war dead in Tokyo and expressed his remorse for the victims of World War II.

Japan, he said, should humbly reflect on its past, lest its people forget the pain the war inflicted on others, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Only one of Aso's cabinet ministers, Consumer Affairs Minister Seiko Noda, visited the Yasukuni Shrine on August 15 this year. But two former Japanese prime ministers—Junichiro Koizumi and Shinzo Abe—still participated.

Feng Zhaokui explained more politicians would prefer not to visit the shrine this year out of political considerations. Aso and Hatoyama, he noted, have now officially kicked off their election campaigns.

The current ruling LDP has been leading Japan since 1955, with the exception of about 10 months in 1993 and 1994.

However, public support for the LDP has been in a continuous slide in the past months, due to the constant corruption scandals that have plagued its ministers. In mid-July, a poll showed the Aso administration's public approval rating was only about 18.6 percent, far lower than that of the Democratic Party.

It is thus very likely that the LDP stands to lose against the Democratic Party during the coming elections.

"The era for political parties to gain votes through participating in the shrine worship has passed," Feng said.

Supporters of the shrine worship—right-wing Japanese—constitute only a small portion of Japanese society. Their votes can hardly influence the voting results. The important thing for the Japanese now is the economic impact of the global financial crisis.

Democratic Party hopeful Hatoyama has reiterated his stance against the shrine worship many times. Recently, he stressed that he would not visit the shrine if he won the election.

In fact, neither Aso, nor his predecessor Abe visited the shrine as the sitting prime minister either. However, that doesn't mean Japan has formed a tradition specifically excluding prime ministers from visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, Feng said.

Indeed, many Japanese people have different understandings about the role their country played in World War II as opposed to that of other Asian peoples—which is, in some ways, understandable, given the propaganda they were subjected to.

But to countries that were invaded by Japan during World War II, August 15 represents a date that commemorates their suffering. And to most Japanese people, it marks the end of an unspeakable period of history they would much rather forget.

In recent years, more and more Japanese have learned about what really happened because of increasing communication with other Asian countries—especially through trips to countries including China.

Had the door of communication been shut, the truth of history could easily have been covered up by right-wing Japanese propaganda, Feng noted.

Recently, many Japanese politicians like Hatoyama have called for the building of a new worship location not dedicated to those who perpetrated war crimes during World War II.

In this way, they hope to maintain the tradition of showing respect to those who died for their country, while not hurting their neighbors' feelings.