 Koizumi says his Yasukuni visit does not conflict with national interests Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro rejected the Chinese allegation that his visit to Yasukuni Shrine is an affront to China. This was in answer to a reporters' question on April 19 at the prime minister's official residence concerning the recent anti-Japan demonstrations in China. Koizumi said, "I visit Yasukuni Shrine to express a no-war pledge and mourn for the war dead. I don't think that my visit conflicts with Japan's national interests. Each country has its own peculiarity regarding history, traditional values, and ways of thinking." Akahata of April 20 reported that China and other neighboring countries are severely critical of the prime minister's visit to Yasukuni Shrine, which served as a spiritual mainstay during the Japanese war of aggression and because it still enshrines Tojo Hideki and other Class-A war criminals, who were the leaders responsible for the war of aggression, as "martyrs of Showa." Akahata also pointed out that Japan-China relations are worsening as seen in China where demonstrations have developed in protest against the recent Japanese movements to praise Japan's war of aggression and colonialism, warning that the situation will continue to be exacerbated if the prime minister refuses to face the cause of the problem and continues to justify his shrine visits. (Akahata, April 20, 2005) |