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 TOKYO (AP) - Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi prayed at a Tokyo shrine honoring the country's war dead Monday, defying critics who say the visits glorify militarism and risking a further deterioration in relations with China and South Korea.
The visit was Koizumi's fifth to the Yasukuni Shrine since becoming prime minister in April 2001, and came despite a recent court decision that found the visits violate Japan's constitutional division of religion and the state. Koizumi suggests the visits are personal, but as in past occasions, he arrived in an official car, accompanied by his aides.
Koizumi last went to Yasukuni in January 2004, triggering protests by Beijing and Seoul and compounding tensions between Tokyo and its neighbors. Those tensions peaked in April with anti-Japanese riots in several Chinese cities.
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