Tweet
Japanese Court Rules Premier's Visits to War Shrine Illegal
Published: October 1, 2005
TOKYO, Sept. 30 - A Japanese court on Friday handed a rare victory to opponents of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to a war shrine, ruling that the visits violated Japan's constitutional separation of religion and the state.
Experts said the ruling by the Osaka High Court probably would not force the Japanese prime minister to stop visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan's war dead, including those hanged for criminal conduct during World War II. But they called it a symbolic victory for critics here and elsewhere, who regard the visits as a measure of Japan's lack of contrition for wartime atrocities.
"This will strengthen Koizumi's opponents," said Hiroshi Nakanishi, a professor of international politics at Kyoto University. "More people will be encouraged to speak out against the visits."
Mr. Koizumi questioned the ruling but left his intentions about future visits unclear.
There was no immediate reaction from either China or South Korea, the most vociferous objectors to Mr. Koizumi's visits to the shrine, as well as to Japanese history textbooks that critics say underplay atrocities Japan committed during the war.
This is the second time a Japanese court has ruled against the visits while courts have rejected eight other cases, including a ruling Thursday by the Tokyo High Court dismissing a civil suit. Plaintiffs in that suit said they would appeal to Japan's Supreme Court.
While Mr. Koizumi has apologized for Japan's wartime conduct, notably last spring at a meeting of Asian and African leaders in Jakarta, Indonesia, his widespread popularity in Japan partly reflects a desire among many Japanese to see their country play a more assertive role in global affairs and to disentangle itself from what they view as its burdensome wartime past.
At the same time, the number of court cases brought over the Yasukuni Shrine issue reflects the intense emotions the prime minister's visits provoke in Japan and Asia.
The ruling on Friday concerned a case brought by 188 people, including 116 citizens of Taiwan, a former Japanese colony. While ruling the prime minister's visits unconstitutional, the court rejected a request for 10,000 yen, or about $90, in compensation for each plaintiff for "psychological damages" caused by the visits. Many of the Taiwanese are relatives of soldiers from Taiwan who died fighting for Japan in World War II and had been memorialized in the Yasukuni Shrine against their families' wishes.
Since taking office four years ago, Mr. Koizumi has paid annual visits to the shrine, a sprawling Shinto complex in central Tokyo that is a favorite gathering spot for veterans and rightist groups. Shinto served as Japan's state religion until 1945, when Emperor Hirohito disavowed its veneration of him as a living deity.
Mr. Koizumi has not visited the shrine since January 2004, but before the ruling on Friday there had been widespread speculation that he might visit it before the year's end.
"I don't understand why my visits to Yasukuni violate the Constitution," Mr. Koizumi told Japan's Parliament after the ruling, The Associated Press reported. "I'm paying my respects to those who died in the war, with the conviction that we must never wage such a war again."
Mr. Koizumi was also quoted as saying he had visited the shrine "as a private citizen, and as prime minister, but not in a public capacity."
The apparent contradiction in that statement captured the difficult position in which Mr. Koizumi now found himself, experts said. In the ruling, the court said Mr. Koizumi's visits were a public act as prime minister and therefore unconstitutional.
In the past, Mr. Koizumi tried to sidestep the legal aspects of his visits by leaving vague whether he went as a private citizen or as a public figure. But the court ruled that merely by leaving his status vague, the visits appeared to be public acts.
Experts said the ruling might force Mr. Koizumi to state clearly that he was visiting as a private citizen. But doing that would anger conservatives, who want the prime minister to honor Japan's war dead in an official way.
Professor Nakanishi of Kyoto University said the ruling carried extra weight because it was handed down by a higher court. The previous ruling against the visits was by a district court in Fukuoka in April 2004.
Published: October 1, 2005
TOKYO, Sept. 30 - A Japanese court on Friday handed a rare victory to opponents of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to a war shrine, ruling that the visits violated Japan's constitutional separation of religion and the state.
Experts said the ruling by the Osaka High Court probably would not force the Japanese prime minister to stop visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan's war dead, including those hanged for criminal conduct during World War II. But they called it a symbolic victory for critics here and elsewhere, who regard the visits as a measure of Japan's lack of contrition for wartime atrocities.
"This will strengthen Koizumi's opponents," said Hiroshi Nakanishi, a professor of international politics at Kyoto University. "More people will be encouraged to speak out against the visits."
Mr. Koizumi questioned the ruling but left his intentions about future visits unclear.
There was no immediate reaction from either China or South Korea, the most vociferous objectors to Mr. Koizumi's visits to the shrine, as well as to Japanese history textbooks that critics say underplay atrocities Japan committed during the war.
This is the second time a Japanese court has ruled against the visits while courts have rejected eight other cases, including a ruling Thursday by the Tokyo High Court dismissing a civil suit. Plaintiffs in that suit said they would appeal to Japan's Supreme Court.
While Mr. Koizumi has apologized for Japan's wartime conduct, notably last spring at a meeting of Asian and African leaders in Jakarta, Indonesia, his widespread popularity in Japan partly reflects a desire among many Japanese to see their country play a more assertive role in global affairs and to disentangle itself from what they view as its burdensome wartime past.
At the same time, the number of court cases brought over the Yasukuni Shrine issue reflects the intense emotions the prime minister's visits provoke in Japan and Asia.
The ruling on Friday concerned a case brought by 188 people, including 116 citizens of Taiwan, a former Japanese colony. While ruling the prime minister's visits unconstitutional, the court rejected a request for 10,000 yen, or about $90, in compensation for each plaintiff for "psychological damages" caused by the visits. Many of the Taiwanese are relatives of soldiers from Taiwan who died fighting for Japan in World War II and had been memorialized in the Yasukuni Shrine against their families' wishes.
Since taking office four years ago, Mr. Koizumi has paid annual visits to the shrine, a sprawling Shinto complex in central Tokyo that is a favorite gathering spot for veterans and rightist groups. Shinto served as Japan's state religion until 1945, when Emperor Hirohito disavowed its veneration of him as a living deity.
Mr. Koizumi has not visited the shrine since January 2004, but before the ruling on Friday there had been widespread speculation that he might visit it before the year's end.
"I don't understand why my visits to Yasukuni violate the Constitution," Mr. Koizumi told Japan's Parliament after the ruling, The Associated Press reported. "I'm paying my respects to those who died in the war, with the conviction that we must never wage such a war again."
Mr. Koizumi was also quoted as saying he had visited the shrine "as a private citizen, and as prime minister, but not in a public capacity."
The apparent contradiction in that statement captured the difficult position in which Mr. Koizumi now found himself, experts said. In the ruling, the court said Mr. Koizumi's visits were a public act as prime minister and therefore unconstitutional.
In the past, Mr. Koizumi tried to sidestep the legal aspects of his visits by leaving vague whether he went as a private citizen or as a public figure. But the court ruled that merely by leaving his status vague, the visits appeared to be public acts.
Experts said the ruling might force Mr. Koizumi to state clearly that he was visiting as a private citizen. But doing that would anger conservatives, who want the prime minister to honor Japan's war dead in an official way.
Professor Nakanishi of Kyoto University said the ruling carried extra weight because it was handed down by a higher court. The previous ruling against the visits was by a district court in Fukuoka in April 2004.
But it should also fix their history books.
Comment