| China, S. Korea slam shrine visit |
TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- A defiant Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has prayed at the Yasukuni war shrine to mark Tokyo's World War II surrender, triggering immediate protests by China and South Korea but cheering his conservative followers.
It was Koizumi's sixth visit to the shrine since taking office in 2001, but his first on the highly symbolic August 15 anniversary of Japan's 1945 defeat. He is the first prime minister to visit on that day since Yasuhiro Nakasone in 1985.
The shrine visits have been a lightening rod for critics who accuse Japan of failing to fully atone for its military invasions in the 1930s and 40s. The shrine honors convicted war criminals among Japan's 2.5 million war dead.
Koizumi, who steps down as prime minister next month, made Tuesday's pilgrimage in the face of Chinese and South Korean warnings that it would further damage ties already frayed by earlier pilgrimages and other disagreements.
The prime minister defended the visit.
"I go there to remember and reflect on past wars and renew our resolve never to go to war again," he told reporters.
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