National News Koizumi visits Yasukuni Shrine

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Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi went Oct. 17 to Yasukuni Shrine, the contentious Shinto site that honors the nation's war dead and 14 Class-A war criminals.

It was Koizumi's fifth visit as prime minister and came on the first day of the four-day Reitaisai, the shrine's most important biannual religious ceremony, which is held in spring and autumn.

It also came hot on the heels of the Diet's approval Oct. 14 of the postal privatization bills.

Koizumi has kept his pledge to visit the shrine at least once a year since taking office in April 2001.

This is despite repeated protests from China and South Korea, which regard the shrine as a symbol of Japan's Shinto-inspired militarism through the 1930s and 1940s.

Chinese and South Korean governments issued severe protests Oct. 17, and talks were canceled between Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura and his Chinese counterpart Li Zhaoxing in Beijing.

A telephone survey Oct. 17 and 18 by Kyodo News found 48.1 percent of respondents in support of Koizumi's action, while 45.8 percent expressed opposition

(The Japan Times)

小泉首相が靖国参拝

小泉純一郎首相は17日、靖国神社を参拝した。

Shukan ST: Oct. 28, 2005

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