"Everybody believes that promises should be kept," said Koizumi, who was in southern Japan's Nagasaki attending the annual memorial service on the atomic bombing of the city in 1945.

    One day earlier, Koizumi said in Tokyo that his pledge on the shrine visit, which was made during the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election in 2001, is still valid.

    Analysts said Koizumi's repeated remarks represented a clear hint that he will visit the shrine on Aug. 15, the 61st anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II and his last chance to honor his promise before stepping down from the post of prime minister and president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in September.

    Since taking office in 2001, Koizumi has, in defiance of strong protests from China and other Asian nations, visited the shrine for five consecutive years, but never on Aug. 15. His last visit to the shrine was on Oct. 7, 2005.

    While leaving office, Koizumi's repeated visits to the notorious shrine have dragged his country to an awkward isolation in its Asian diplomacy.

    The Yasukuni Shrine, regarded as a symbol of the Japanese militarism, honors more than 2 million Japanese war dead along with 14 Japan's wartime leaders charged as Class-A war criminals, who were responsible for the most atrocious crimes during Japan's war of aggression against its Asian neighbors. Enditem