It is premature for the government to establish a secular memorial as an alternative to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, which honors the nation's war dead, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Tuesday.
"I think it should be established when the Japanese people's acceptance of the facility grows," Fukuda told a regularly scheduled news conference.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi drew a hail of international criticism when he visited the Shinto shrine on New Year's Day.