Eight members of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's Cabinet said Tuesday they will visit Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine to mourn Japan's war dead on the 55th anniversary of the country's surrender in World War II next Tuesday.
The ministers said at separate news conferences that they will visit the shrine, a Shinto memorial often viewed as a symbol of Japan's aggressive past. Two other ministers said they have yet to make a decision.
The eight are Justice Minister Okiharu Yasuoka; Transport Minister Hajime Morita; Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Yoichi Tani; International Trade and Industry Minister Takeo Hiranuma; Posts and Telecommunications Minister Kozo Hirabayashi; Defense Agency chief Kazuo Torashima; Financial Reconstruction Commission Chairman Hideyuki Aizawa; and Health and Welfare Minister Yuji Tsushima.