A ruling of law and justice: Commentary

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, April 08, 2004

A ruling of law and justice: Commentary

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Japanese PM Koizumi visits war criminal shrine

The Fukuoka District Court of Japan ruled on April 7 that Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to Yasukuni Shrine on August 13, 2001 violated the country's constitutional separation of state and religion. This is the first time that a Japanese court gives such a ruling.

Koizumi's shrine visit three years ago, four months after his taking office, roused strong resentment from many Japanese people. A 211-people plaintiff group consists of family members of the war dead and religious personages lodged a lawsuit to the Fukuoka District Court, claiming that the Prime Minister's shrine visit violated constitutional stipulations on the separation of state and religion. The Prime Minister's shrine visit, as a state leader to a particular religious venue, plaintiffs claimed, was to the effect of imposing a religious belief on them, violating their religious freedom and causing psychological suffering to them, therefore they demanded 21.1 million yen-or 100,000 yen (about US$940) each-in damages from the government.

In its April 7 ruling, the local court rejected plaintiffs' demands for compensation, but ruled that since Yasukuni Shrine is a religious legal person, Junichiro Koizumi's visit to it, in his official capacity as Prime Minister, is a religious act prohibited by Article 20 of the Japanese constitution which violates the constitutional separation of state and religion.

Koizumi expressed dissatisfaction over the ruling, and made public remarks saying he "does not understand" why his visit was unconstitutional and he would continue to visit Yasukuni Shrine. This means Koizumi will continue to disregard constitutional provisions, hole the sanctity of the law in contempt and cause psychological suffering to the plaintiffs. Reports say similar lawsuits have been filed at five other district courts across Japan-Tokyo, Chiba, Naha, Osaka and Matsuyama. Koizumi will continue to receive judgment of law and justice.

Japanese protest against Koizumi's visit to Yasukuni shrine

Unlike Japanese nationals who oppose Koizumi's shrine visit from constitutional and religious perspectives, the Chinese people condemn the visit because the shrine honors 14 convicted World War II Class-A war criminals. The Chinese people once suffered great devastation from Japanese militarism, and the bitter memory still lingers in people's mind. The 1931-1945 war of aggression alone resulted in death and injury of 35 million Chinese soldiers and civilians, as well as war consumption and property loss worth US$ 600 billion. As Japanese Prime Minister, Koizumi should have drawn lessons from history and devoted himself to the peace and development of Asia, instead he visited Yasukuni Shrine repeatedly. His act is not only deceived kind people in Japan but also disregarded and hurt the feeling of the Chinese people. The Chinese people will surely express their indignation and condemnation.

The Chinese is not a nation who harbors hatred of the past and let the past misery affect the present and future, but nor will they tolerate beatification and distortion of history, or see historical tragedies repeated.

By People's Daily Online

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