Tokyo High Court yesterday rejected a suit against Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's 2001 visit to a war memorial, criticized by some as glorifying Japan's past militarism.
The decision backed up an earlier ruling by a lower court, which threw out a suit demanding compensation for anguish stemming from the visit by Koizumi to Yasukuni Shrine, lawyers for the plaintiffs said.
The suit, brought by 39 plaintiffs demanding ?100,000 (US$885) each in damages, also alleged that Koizumi's visit violated the constitutional separation of state and religion.
A lawyer for the plaintiffs said they probably would appeal.
"Koizumi's visit obviously violates the Constitution, and the ruling is only supporting him," said Kazuhiro Uetake, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs.
Kyodo News Agency reported that the court concluded Koizumi's visit did not infringe on the plaintiffs' rights. The judge also ruled that Koizumi worshipped there privately, so there was no need to decide whether the visit violated the constitution, the report said.
Yoshio Hirose, chief lawyer for the plaintiffs, said that Koizumi's visit could not be private because the premier signed the shrine's visitor book and offered flowers at the shrine using the title of prime minister.
"If Koizumi thought he'd be in trouble if his visit was considered public, why did he bother to write his title as prime minister to sign the book?" he said.
One of the plaintiffs said he was disappointed by the ruling.
"I feel anger and sadness toward the ruling which took sides with the state. We are disappointed and cannot accept it," said Akira Kobayashi, 65.
In the previous ruling in November last year, the Chiba District Court near Tokyo also rejected the suit, then brought by 63 plaintiffs, and also did not rule on the constitutional question.
The high court decision comes amid intense media speculation about whether Koizumi will make another visit to Yasukuni, which enshrines Japan's 2.5 million war dead, including executed war criminals from World War II.
Koizumi argues that he has made the visits -- four since taking office in 2001 -- as a way of honoring those who lost their lives in Japan's wars, and to pray for peace. His last visit was January last year, and some suspect he will visit again before the end of the year.
Worshipping there also serves a political purpose by satisfying the demands of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's right wing.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
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UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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