Arrogance of prime minister who ignores the Constitution -- Akahata
editorial, November 3, 2001

"Nonsense. Are there still such idiotic people in this world?" This is
how Prime Minister Koizumu Jun'ichiro described family members of the war
dead when the latter sought a court injunction preventing him from further
visiting Yasukuni Shrine, claiming such visits are unconstitutional.

About 900 people, including family members who lost their loved ones in
the Japanese war of aggression, are involved in three lawsuits filed with
the Osaka, Fukuoka, and Matsuyama district courts against Prime Minister
Koizumi and Yasukuni Shrine.

The prime minister's wild statement has caused severe criticism from
among a wide range of people, including the plaintiffs, for his complete
lack of respect for the Constitution.

Yasukuni visit amounts to practicing religious faith

Accompanied by his cabinet secretary, Koizumi went to Yasukuni Shrine in
an official government car, and registered as Prime Minister Koizumi
Jun'ichiro at the front shrine in violation of the constitutional principles
of lasting peace, freedom of religious faith, and separation of government
and religion.

That such visits are unconstitutional has been confirmed in the courts.
In January 1991, the Sendai High Court deemed official visits to Yasukuni
Shrine as unconstitutional. The Fukuoka High Court in February 1992 and the
Osaka High Court in July the same year said such visits "may be
unconstitutional" in their respective rulings.

Until the end of World War II Yasukuni Shrine served as the main
spiritual instrument for mobilizing the people to the War of aggression.
After the war, it became a religious corporation. The prime minister's
Yasukuni visits mean that the nation's government leader grants the shrine a
special status.

This is why the people voiced objections when Prime Minister Koizumi said
he was visiting Yasukuni Shrine last August to express his gratitude to the
war dead. It was natural that people exercised their constitutional rights
in taking legal action against official Yasukuni visits, saying they force
the people to accept what the government believes significant about the
deaths of the war dead, and that they constitute pressures on and intrusions
into the thought, creed and religious faith of the bereaved families.

Now that Prime Minister Koizumi has been sued for his violation of the
Constitution, Koizumi should go to court to respond to the charge and wait
for the judiciary to pass judgment.

Before doing so, the prime minister used his position as prime minister
to attack the plaintiffs. This shows not only his lack of understanding of
the Constitution but his arrogance as a person in power who refuses to
listen to the people's criticism.

The lawsuit at this time also involves families of those Koreans who as
former Japanese army soldiers were enshrined in Yasukuni as the war dead.

One of the plaintiffs said, "My father is enshrined along with Class-A
war criminals. The aggressor country's prime minister has visited the
shrine. I'm afraid that my father will be regarded as one who helped them."
In fact, what the prime minister has done insults the Asian peoples who are
victims of the Japanese aggression.

Prime Minister Koizumi went so far as to ridiculed the victims'
complaint. It is tantamount to confessing that the "apology and reflections"
he made during his visit to China and South Korea was nothing more than
rhetoric.

The Cabinet Secretary, to lash back at the plaintiffs, said, "What they
are attempting to do amounts to prohibiting Koizumi Jun'ichiro's religious
freedom in violation of the Constitution."

On what grounds can he say that Koizumi Jun'ichiro visits Yasukuni Shrine
to exercise his religious faith? The question now is not the freedom of
religious faith but Koizumi's action as prime minister. Such a distortion of
the problem is nonsense.

They are thus praising those who gave their lives in the Japanese war of
aggression and insisting that visits to Yasukuni Shrine, where Class-A war
criminals are enshrined, are part of exercising religious faith. This is
tantamount to admitting that they continue to stand firmly for the past war
of aggression.

They should first admit that Japanese war of aggression was wrong

Strict observance of the Constitution, which is based on reflections on
the war of aggression, is one of the fundamental conditions for Japan to get
along with the rest the world, including Asia, in peace.

Refusing to admit that the war of aggression was wrong, Prime Minister
Koizumi continues to violate the Constitution and even insults those who
criticize him. This again shows that he is not the right person to be in
charge of national government. (end)