Koizumi Makes His Third Visit to Yasukuni Shrine

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, January 15, 2003

Koizumi Makes His Third Visit to Yasukuni Shrine

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited Tokyo's war-related Yasukuni Shrine on Tuesday afternoon, saying he wanted to do so with a ''fresh feeling'' of wishing for peace.

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Koizumi Makes His Third Visit to Yasukuni Shrine

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited Tokyo's war-related Yasukuni Shrine on Tuesday afternoon, saying he wanted to do so with a ''fresh feeling'' of wishing for peace.

''It is the new year, and so with a fresh feeling, I want to relish peace and offer my prayers with the thought that we will never launch another war,'' Koizumi told reporters before making his third visit since taking office in April 2001.

His previous visits to the shrine, which honors Class A war criminals along with Japan's war dead, in the past two years drew protests from neighboring countries such as China and South Korea -- victims of Japan's military aggression before and during World War II.

Koizumi, who has said he intends to visit Yasukuni once a year, paid homage at the shrine on Aug. 13, 2001 and on April 21 last year, avoiding the Aug. 15 anniversary of the end of World War II in consideration of the feelings of some of Japan's neighbors.

Source: Agencies

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