Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi should continue his annual visits to Yasukuni Shrine, to avoid giving the wrong impression that Japan will cave in to China's heavy-handed tactics, according to Mineo Nakajima, president of Akita International University.
Yasukuni enshrines the nation's war dead, including Class-A war criminals, and China and South Korea have criticized Koizumi's annual pilgrimages as a sign that Japan has not repented its past military aggression.
Yasukuni is not the only dispute between Tokyo and Beijing — the two Asian giants are at odds over various issues, including a gas field development project in the East China Sea and ownership of resources surrounding Okinotori Island, Japan's southernmost territory in the Pacific Ocean.