Japan to remilitarize itself?

After all, the problem of Koizumi's visting to shrine lies before all the political obstacles that is to be solved, it is rather a symbol of whether the japanese government has some sincerity to amend.

It is totally political.

TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Nearly 50 percent of Japanese oppose Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to a Tokyo war shrine criticized by China, a newspaper poll shows.

The Asahi newspaper survey on Tuesday showed 49 percent of 1,876 respondents questioned thought the visits to Yasukuni should stop, while 39 percent thought they should continue.

The poll said 12 percent of respondents questioned on Saturday and Sunday were undecided or didn't know.

Yasukuni honors Japan's war dead, including executed World War II criminals, and China and other countries say the visits glorify Japan's militarist past.

The shrine was one of several issues -- including territorial disputes and a Japanese nationalist history textbook -- that boiled over in violent anti-Japan protests in China in April.

Asahi also said that only 35 percent respondents approved of Koizumi's policy toward China, while 48 percent disapproved of it. The remaining 17 percent had no opinion.

The poll showed that 51 percent of respondents could not understand China's vehement opposition to the Yasukuni visits, while 37 percent did.

Koizumi has refused to rule out a visit to Yasukuni this year. He has gone to the shrine four times since taking office in 2001, the last time in January 2003.

I really don't see the problem of visiting the war shrine.

He is honoring the sacrafice japanese soldiers made. Whether or not their cause was jsut, they were still soldiers doing what their country asked of them. i see it more as him honoring their patriotism as him honoring the actions of the Japanese military in WW2

the shrine also has Koreans forcibly conscripted, along with 'every soldier' that died for the glory of Japanese empire and the emperor

it used to be called Shokonsha at the time it was built, and with Japan's conquest wars, took on a militaristic character

whenever there was war, Yasukuni became the center of loyalty to the emperor and militarism of Japan, where war-dead could become gods.

unjust aggressions by Japan was justified by this religious base, and could drive Japan to militarism as the young would go to war so they can go to yasukuni and become gods, 'bringing comfort to Japan' in the process (Yasukuni literally means bring comfort to country)

one source says:

the 14 A-class war criminals didn't come to Yasukuni until 1978
'the war criminals were labled one-sidedly by the allied forces, and they are not criminals according to Japanese law'

first official visit by a primere was in 1985

another says:

it was discovered that 14 A-class war criminals were in Yasukuni in 1978, drawing international attention, and visits by premeres and emperors stopped for the most part afterwards

on the outside, they have many white doves, on the inside, they have statues of Omura Ekizi, 'the father of Japanese army', Kamikaze pilots, and many war criminals, and also carries many weapons including Zero fighters, large guns off battleships, ammunition for Yamato, etc. and there is also a stone monument listing qualities an Emperor's soldier of the empire should have

Yasukuni is a symbol of imperialism, militarism, expansionism, and McArthur saw the danger of it and cut its link from the state, giving a choice to make it a purely religious shrine, or a pure memorial grounds for war-dead. Japan chose religious shrine then, and slowly grew back the link to the state

official visit by government official itself is unlawful as the state cannot perform religious activities according to the constitution, many Japanese understand why other countries see the visits as so terrible, and even more Japanese think the visits should stop. the government is also thinking of removing the A-class warcriminals, but are stopped by right-wing disapprovals

and just to note, if they purely want to honor the dead, there is the Chidorigahuchi wardead graveyard just below Yasukuni.