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Court: Koizumi shrine visits unconstitutional
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-30 14:23 It was the second ruling on a lawsuit concerning the shrine in as many days.
On Thursday, Tokyo High Court turned down a similar case and declared Koizumi's
visits were private, but it did not rule on the constitutionality of worshipping
at Yasukuni.
Independent
lawmaker Kao Chin Su-mei (L), from Taiwan's Atayal tribe, with fellow
native Taiwanese, hold up placards in protest outside Osaka High Court
September 30, 2005, after the court ruled that Japanese Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi violated the constitution by visiting the controversial
Yasukuni Shrine, but rejected their demands for compensation for their
mental anguish. The sign reads 'Aboriginal Taiwanese protest'.
[Reuters] | Koizumi has gone to the shrine four
times since becoming prime minister in April 2001. Fukuoka District Court in
southern Japan ruled last year that one of the visits violated the constitution,
but the decision lacked the legal force to stop further visits.
The prime minister last went to Yasukuni in January 2004, and speculation has
been rampant that he could visit the shrine again before the end of the year. He
refuses to discuss his plans, but such a visit is sure to enrage Japan's
neighbors. Past visits have contributed to the serious deterioration in ties
between Tokyo and Seoul and Beijing.
Japan's 2.5 million war dead are worshipped as deities at Yasukuni, a shrine
in Japan's native Shinto religion. They include 14 Class-A war criminals
executed after World War II, such as wartime Prime Minister Hideki Tojo.
"These visits go against Article 20 of the Japanese constitution, which calls
for the separation of the state and religion," the ruling read, according to
Nakajima.
In ruling that the visits were public, the court pointed to the fact that
Koizumi visited the shrine with a government secretary and used a state car, and
also criticized the premier for not clearly denying he was on an official visit.
Nakajima said he was not certain whether the decision would stop Koizumi from
going to Yasukuni again. The prime minister could attempt to avoid the
constitutional issue by traveling to the shrine in a personal car and then claim
to worship at Yasukuni as a private citizen, Nakajima
said.
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