An association of families of the war dead on Saturday asked Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to show more consideration for Japan's Asian neighbors over his contentious visits to Yasukuni Shrine.
Nippon Izokukai, or the Japan War-Bereaved Association, headed by former Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Makoto Koga, issued an unusual statement on its views of Koizumi's visits to the shrine, which have prompted criticism from other Asian countries and have become a serious diplomatic issue.
The Shinto shrine in central Tokyo honors Japan's 2.5 million war dead as well as Japan's World War II leaders convicted as Class-A war criminals by an Allied-led tribunal.