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69% in favor of Koizumi's visit to Yasukuni Shrine
Japan Policy & Politics, July 9, 2001
TOKYO, July 5 Kyodo
Sixty-nine percent of Japanese in a public opinion poll approve of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's planned visit Aug. 15 to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, a memorial to Japan's war dead, a Japanese daily reported Thursday.
The Mainichi Shimbun said its survey in late June shows 21% are opposed to the visit to coincide with the 56th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II.
In an earlier Mainichi opinion poll in May, 44% were in favor, 46% approved on condition Koizumi visit the shrine as a private citizen, and 7% were against. The latest survey did not include a reference to a Koizumi visit to the shrine in a private capacity.
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Of respondents with clear-cut support for political parties, 83% of those supporting the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and 55% of those supporting the largest opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) were in favor of a Koizumi visit to the Shinto shrine, the new survey found.
Eight percent of LDP supporters and 36% of DPJ supporters were against the visit, according to the survey which also found that 34% of New Komeito party supporters were in favor and 58% were against. The New Komeito is backed by the Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai.
China and South Korea have expressed their opposition to Koizumi's plans to visit the shrine, dedicated to the 2.5 million Japanese who have died in wars since the mid-19th century. The shrine also honors seven hanged war criminals, including wartime Prime Minister Gen. Hideki Tojo.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Kyodo News International, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group
