Hundreds of Japanese filed lawsuits on Thursday against Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi over a controversial visit to a shrine
for the war dead, saying it violated the constitution, media and
court officials said.
The lawsuits argue that Koizumi's August visit violated the
constitutional separation of the church and state, Kyodo said.
Koizumi sparked fury at home and abroad when he visited Yasukuni
Shrine, which honors convicted war criminals along with nearly 2.5
million of Japan's war dead since the 19th century.
A
group of about 640 people filed a suit against Koizumi and the
government at the Osaka District Court in western Japan, demanding
a ruling that Koizumi's visit to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine in August
was unconstitutional, Kyodo news agency said.
The plaintiffs are seeking 10,000 yen ($82) each in compensation
for psychological pain they say they experienced from the visit,
Kyodo said. An Osaka court spokesman said it had received such a
suit but declined to comment further.
A
spokesman at Matsuyama District Court, also in western Japan, said
a similar lawsuit had been filed there. Kyodo said 65 people had
filed that suit. The visit drew fire from Japan's Asian neighbors,
particularly China and South Korea, straining diplomatic ties with
the former victims of Japanese wartime aggression.
The Osaka suit argues that Koizumi paid homage at the shrine in an
official capacity because he used a government car and signed his
official title in the visitors' book, it said.
Koizumi has declined to clarify whether the visit was official or
private, merely saying he paid homage as "Prime Minister Junichiro
Koizumi" and that he used his own money to pay for a floral
offering sent in his name.
"Yasukuni Shrine is a symbol of the imperial system and
militarism," Kyodo quoted the lawsuit as saying. "Paying tribute at
the shrine violates Article 20 of the Constitution, while showing
respect to the Class-A war criminals honored there."
Article 20 guarantees freedom of religion and the separation of
church and state.
Asked about the lawsuit, top government spokesman Yasuo Fukuda said
he did not think Koizumi's visit violated the constitution.
"Aren't these people intruding on Junichiro Koizumi's freedom of
religion?" he said at a news conference.
(China
Daily November 1, 2001)