Police probe fire at Japan shrine critic’s office

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese police were investigating a
possible arson attack at the office of a senior lawmaker known
for his outspoken opposition to Prime Minister Junichiro
Koizumi’s visits to a controversial war shrine, a spokesman
said on Wednesday.

A fire destroyed a house belonging to the mother of Liberal
Democratic Party lawmaker Koichi Kato and his adjoining
constituency office in Yamagata, north of Tokyo on Tuesday,
hours after Koizumi paid his respects at the Yasukuni shrine,
seen by many in Asia as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism.

Kato is a former secretary general of the ruling LDP.

A man, later discovered to be a member of a right-wing
group, was found collapsed at the scene with what were thought
to be self-inflicted stab wounds to the stomach. He was
unconscious in hospital following surgery, a police spokesman
said.

“There is definitely a possibility that this was arson,”
the spokesman added. “We plan to question the man when he
regains consciousness.”

Kato had spent much of Tuesday appearing on television
programmes in which he criticised Koizumi’s visits to the
shrine.

“I want to continue to speak out,” Kato told Japanese
television interviewers on Wednesday when asked whether the
incident would affect his activities.