TOKYO, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Former Japanese prime
ministers Junichiro Koizumi and Shinzo Abe visited Tokyo's war-related Yasukuni
Shrine on Saturday morning on the 64th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Prime Minister Taro Aso
has indicated he will not pay tribute at the shrine on the day and only one of
his Cabinet ministers -- Consumer Affairs Minister Seiko Noda -- is expected to
visit the shrine on Saturday, according to Kyodo News.
The shrine, which honors some 2.5 million Japanese
war dead including 14 leading war criminals, is seen as a symbol of Japan's past
militarism.
Koizumi was the first sitting prime minister in 21
years to visit the shrine in 2006. His visit soured Japan's relations with its
Asian neighbors.
Abe's visit on Saturday is his second in a row,
although he had avoided the shrine while he was prime minister.
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Yukio Hatoyama, leader of the Democratic
Party of Japan (DPJ), addresses a press conference at the party's
headquarters in Tokyo, capital of Japan, Aug. 11, 2009. Yukio Hatoyama
pledged here on Tuesday to deepen the Japan-China relations and promised
not to visit the Yasukuni Shrine where top World War II criminals are
honored, if DPJ wins the upcoming general elections. (Xinhua/Ren Zhenglai)
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Japan's main opposition leader Yukio Hatoyama, widely
tipped to become the next prime minister after the Aug. 30 general election, had
indicated that he would not visit the shrine if elected.
