Japan PM to visit war shrine on WW2 anniversary

By Linda Sieg

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi
will make a pilgrimage later on Tuesday to Tokyo’s Yasukuni
Shrine for war dead, considered by China and South Korea to be
a symbol of Japan’s past militarism, an aide said.

The visit to the Shinto shrine, where Japanese World War
Two leaders convicted as war criminals are honored along with
2.5 million war dead, is likely to provoke angry rebukes from
Japan’s neighbors, where memories of Japanese aggression run
deep.

Koizumi, who plans to step down in September, had been
widely expected to visit the shrine on the August 15
anniversary of Japan’s surrender in 1945, an emotive date in
much of Asia.

Tokyo’s ties with Beijing and Seoul have already
deteriorated to their worst state in decades, in part because
of Koizumi’s past pilgrimages to the shrine.

While the United States has not publicly complained,
experts say Washington is worried about Japan’s growing
isolation in the region and its deteriorating ties with rival
China in particular.

The shrine played a central role in the wartime state
religion that helped mobilize the nation to fight in the name
of a divine emperor.

Koizumi, who is set to leave office after more than five
years, promised during his campaign to become ruling party
chief in 2001 that he would visit the shrine on the August 15
anniversary.

He has visited every year since, but never on that date.

Koizumi says he goes to the shrine to pray for peace and
honor those who sacrificed their lives for their country.

Critics argue his visits reflect Japan’s failure to face up
to its wartime past, including atrocities committed in Asia.

Japanese public opinion is divided on whether the prime
minister should make pilgrimages to Yasukuni and the ruling
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is itself split on the issue.

The shrine considers 14 wartime leaders convicted by an
Allied tribunal as Class A war criminals to be “martyrs.”

A museum on its grounds depicts the Pacific war as one
Japan was forced to fight in self-defense and has been
criticized for ignoring atrocities committed by Japanese.

HEATED DEBATE

Visits by Japanese leaders to the shrine have become a
focus of the competition to succeed Koizumi in a ruling party
leadership election on September 20.

Many Japanese business executives, concerned that the
diplomatic chill could hurt vital economic ties with China,
have made clear they want the next prime minister to halt the
visits.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe — seen as increasingly
certain to succeed Koizumi — has defended the prime minister’s
pilgrimages and went there himself this time last year.

Media have said Abe, 51, also paid a secret visit in April.

The soft-spoken political blue-blood, a security hawk known
for his tough stance toward China and North Korea, has declined
to say whether he would go there if he becomes prime minister.

One lagging contender, Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki,
has promised to refrain from going there if he becomes premier.