Asia-Pacific

Japan PM lashes out at domestic critics of Yasukuni

(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-06-28 16:15
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Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi defended his visits to a Tokyo war shrine seen by China and South Korea as a symbol of Japan's past militarism, saying he was free to go there as often as he wished.

He lashed out at domestic critics of his annual pilgrimages, saying they opposed the visits to the Yasukuni Shrine because Beijing did so.

"It's not a problem no matter how many times one goes. It's one's freedom," Koizumi, speaking in Ottawa, told reporters accompanying him on a four-day visit to Canada and the United States.

The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday upheld a lower court ruling rejecting demands for compensation by around 140 people, including some South Koreans, over visits to Yasukuni by Koizumi and Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara.

The plaintiffs had demanded that Koizumi, Ishihara and the central and Tokyo metropolitan governments pay 30,000 yen ($260) to each claimant, and asked the court to order the officials not to visit the shrine again, Kyodo news agency said.

Koizumi's visits since taking office in 2001 have been at the heart of Tokyo's worsening ties with Beijing and Seoul as the shrine honours some convicted Japanese war criminals along with the country's war dead.

China has refused to hold official summit meetings with Japan, and the leaders of the two countries have met only on the sidelines of multilateral forums.

Koizumi has said he goes to Yasukuni not to glorify war but to pay respects to those who sacrificed their lives for the country and to vow never to wage war again.

"Is it wrong to show such feeling of respect? Those who say the visit is bad say that because China says it is bad," he said.

Koizumi also said the Yasukuni visits should not figure in the decision on his successor when he steps down in September, but he added there were forces that wanted to highlight the issue.

Members of Koizumi's party who are keen to improve Japan's ties with its neighbours are hoping that former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda, who has been a critic of the prime minister's diplomacy, will enter the race to succeed Koizumi.

But opinion polls show that current Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, who has backed Koizumi's visits, is the voters' favourite to succeed Koizumi with around 40 percent support. Fukuda trails in second place with about 20 percent.

The Liberal Democratic Party will choose its next leader in September when Koizumi's term expires. Its president is virtually guaranteed the prime minister's seat as the party holds a majority in the lower house of parliament.