2ND LD: Court rejects compensation suit over Koizumi's Yasukuni trip

Japan Policy & Politics, March 1, 2004

OSAKA, Feb. 27 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING KOIZUMI QUOTES)

The Osaka District Court on Friday rejected compensation demands filed by a group of 631 Japanese and Koreans who said Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to a Shinto shrine dedicated to the war dead in Tokyo in 2001 violated the constitutional separation of state and religion.

The court did not rule on whether the visit to Yasukuni Shrine constituted an infringement of the Constitution, but it considered the visit official because Koizumi ''went in the capacity of prime minister.''

Presiding Judge Hiroshi Muraoka said, however, ''While we understand that the plaintiffs were exasperated because of their religious beliefs, it cannot be said their specific rights accorded under law were in any way violated.''

The plaintiffs -- primarily kin of the war dead and people of faith -- said they plan to appeal the ruling. They had demanded that Koizumi, the state and the shrine pay each plaintiff a total of 10,000 yen in compensation for psychological suffering they experienced.

The ruling was the first to be handed down in a series of similar lawsuits also filed in Matsuyama, Fukuoka, Chiba, Tokyo and Okinawa.

Koizumi denied the ruling will affect his policy of paying homage at the shrine once a year. ''I'll visit the shrine every year,'' he told reporters at his office after the ruling.

The premier declined to say whether he visits the shrine as a public figure or in a private capacity. He also declined to give his opinion on the ruling itself.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda defended the premier, saying at a regular news conference Friday, ''(The premier) made it clear that it was a private visit when he went...it is a pity that the court did not recognize his claim.''

But Fukuda, the top government spokesman, did not comment on criticism such as the visit might violate the Constitution, only saying he had yet to read the contents of the ruling and that he would consider the matter if something should be done.

Regarded by other Asian countries as a symbol of Japan's militarist past, Yasukuni honors 14 convicted World War II Class-A war criminals, including wartime Prime Minister Gen. Hideki Tojo, along with 2.5 million Japanese who have died in wars since 1853. Judge Muraoka agreed with the plaintiffs' argument that Koizumi visited Yasukuni in a government vehicle and signed the shrine's visitors book as premier.

''From an objective viewpoint, it is appropriate to recognize that he went as a prime minister,'' the judge said.

The complaint said, ''Yasukuni Shrine is a symbol of the imperial system and militarism. Paying tribute at the shrine violates Article 20 of the Constitution, which stipulates freedom of religion, and is tantamount to showing respect to the Class-A war criminals honored there.''

Since his 2001 visit, Koizumi has paid annual homage to the shrine -- on April 21, 2002, Jan. 14 last year and on New Year's Day this year. He has avoided paying tribute there on the sensitive day of Aug. 15, the anniversary of the day Japan surrendered to the Allies in World War II.

In 1991, the Sendai High Court ruled that a 1985 Yasukuni visit by then Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone violated the Constitution. Two other high courts also handed down similar rulings in 1992.