Japanese court: Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni "unconstitutional"
Tokyo (AsiaNews/Agencies) A Japanese court ruled today that the controversial visits of the Premier, Junichiro Koizumi, to a war shrine are in violation of the Constitution. However, the judge turned down compensation demands by a group of relatives of Taiwanese who perished in World War II.
The Osaka High Court found that the act of worship of the Prime Minister at Yasukuni was a public act and hence it "violated Article 20 of the Japanese constitution, which calls for the separation of the state and religion". According to the article, government authorities are forbidden from undertaking "religious activities".
Mitsunori Nakasjima a lawyer representing Taiwanese plaintiffs said the premier may skirt the constitutional issue by saying his visits to Yasukuni were "private". The prime minister has not clarified his position, saying only that the matter is irrelevant. However, he used his official car to travel to and from the shrine, and has signed the shrine registry as "prime minister" at least once.
The High Court rejected the request for compensation filed by 188 plaintiffs, who are mostly Taiwanese relatives of World War II veterans. They claimed to suffer from mental problems because their dear ones, conscripted by Japan, were venerated at the shrine together with Japanese soldiers.
At Yasukuni, in line with the traditional Shintoist religion, 2.5 million people who fell fighting for Japan since 1869 are venerated as deities. Among them are 14 recognised "Class A" war criminals. Since his election as premier in 2001, Koizumi has gone to the shrine on four occasions, each time provoking the ire of Asian states who were subject to Japanese aggression in the first half of the twentieth century, especially China and Korea.
In April 2004, the district court of Fukuoka handed down a verdict similar to this one: the premier responded by saying he would continue his visits. The prime minister's last pilgrimage to Yasukuni took place in January last year, but after his recent re-election, many predict another visit is imminent.
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18/10/2005
