Taiwanese who sued the government over Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine will not appeal to a higher court, their lawyers said Tuesday.
The Osaka High Court ruled Sept. 30 that Koizumi's visits to the shrine were unconstitutional but rejected a demand by the 188 Taiwanese plaintiffs for 10,000 yen each.
Because the state technically won the lawsuit, it cannot appeal to the Supreme Court, so with the plaintiffs' decision the high court ruling stands.
Yasukuni Shrine honors Japan's war dead as well as 14 Class-A war criminals.
"The high court ruling that the visits were unconstitutional has significant meaning," lawyers representing the plaintiffs explained in a statement. "With the ruling fixed, we thought this can become a strong warning to Prime Minister Koizumi."
The ruling was the second to deem that Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni were unconstitutional. The first was made by the Fukuoka District Court in April 2004. But overall, rulings have been mixed on Koizumi's visits.
High courts in Osaka, Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, and Tokyo did not make any clear judgment over whether they were constitutional in similar lawsuits brought by other plaintiffs and simply rejected the redress claims.
The Osaka High Court this time, however, ruled that the visit was official because Koizumi used his official car and the visit was to realize a pledge he made officially before taking office. As with all of his visits, he signed the guest register and preceded his name with his title.
The ruling said the visit was a religious activity banned under the Constitution, in that the trip gave the public the impression that the government provides special support to the shrine.
But the high court rejected the compensation demand, saying the visits did not infringe on the plaintiffs' freedom of thought and belief.