Japan court rejects suit on PM shrine visits

TOKYO, June 23: Japan's Supreme Court today rejected a lawsuit demanding damages for mental distress caused by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to a Tokyo war shrine at the centre of frosty relations with Asian neighbours.

Many see the Yasukuni shrine as a symbol of Japan's past militarism since convicted war criminals are honoured there with the nation's 2.5 million war dead, and Koizumi's annual visits have chilled ties with China and South Korea.

In the case, the first of its kind to reach the country's highest court, the nearly 300 plaintiffs, who included family members of people who died in the war, had argued that Koizumi's visits were official acts that violated the constitutional separation of church and state.

They claimed that it was this failure to separate religion and the state which had caused them mental distress.

Koizumi has repeatedly said that his visits are made as a private citizen to pray for peace and honour those who gave their lives for the nation.

The court declined to rule on the issue of whether or not the visit was unconstitutional.

''Even if their religious sentiments were damaged by another person's visit to a certain shrine, it cannot be said such damage immediately warrants a claim to damages and that the plaintiffs' legal rights have been damaged,'' the court was quoted in media reports as saying.

Masaharu Hishiki, leader of a plaintiffs' group, said the decision was irresponsible.

''The court ran away from making a ruling on the constitutional angle,'' he told reporters. ''It's not just unfair but unfathomable.'' Chief cabinet secretary Shinzo Abe expressed satisfaction with the ruling, noting that the government's position was upheld.

''Since this was a ruling by the Supreme Court, I believe a legal precedent has been set,'' he told a news conference.

Last year, in a different case, the Osaka High Court in western Japan ruled that Koizumi's visits were official acts and violated the constitution, but rejected the plaintiffs' claim for damages.

His last visit, in October 2005, sparked sharp protests from China and South Korea.

The issue of pilgrimages to Yasukuni has become a focus of the race to succeed Koizumi, who is set to step down when his term as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) expires in September.

Abe, currently the frontrunner, has defended Koizumi's visits but declined to say whether he would continue the practice should he take the top job.

Number two rival Yasuo Fukuda, a veteran LDP lawmaker and former chief cabinet secretary, supports the idea of a new secular memorial where Japan can honour its war dead.

Reuters