Koizumi, “ I Will Continue Yaskuni Shrine Visit Each Year”

On February 28, the Asahi Shimbun reported that the prime minister of Japan, Koizumi Junichiro, clarified that he would annually worship the Second World War criminals enshrined in Yaskuni shrine in spite of resistance of China and Korea.

The prime minister, Koizumi announced, “I have no clue that I was prosecuted, so I will worship at the shrine every year,” since a claim for damages filed by Second World War bereaved who suffer mental anguish due to his official shine visits was rejected at the Osaka district court on February 27.

In addition, he added that he would neither respond to questions regarding the status of his shrine visits and whether they are in a private or official capacity, nor care about public opinion about them.

The Osaka district court found that he visited Yaskuni shrine in an official capacity and there was no evidence for mental anguish of war bereaved because of his shrine visit. However, the court never mentioned whether his Yaskuni shine visit was unconstitutional or not. It seems that the Osaka district court’s decision about the case will affect future adjudication of five similar lawsuits instituted by civic groups and the war-bereaved families against prime minister Koizumi’s Yaskuni shrine visits.

Hun-Joo Cho hanscho@donga.com