A grandson of former Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo, who was convicted as a Class-A war criminal after World War II, says Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's successors should refrain from visiting Yasukuni Shrine.

In an interview in the monthly magazine Gendai to be published Tuesday, former ranking Foreign Ministry official Kazuhiko Togo said, "Fully aware of opposition that may arise from some quarters, I would like to propose this: That the successor to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi declare a moratorium on visiting Yasukuni."

Togo, 61, said future prime ministers should "continue this policy until the time comes when it is aptly judged that the moratorium may be lifted."

Koizumi, who steps down in September, has gone to the shrine once a year since he became prime minister in April 2001. His visits have drawn fire from China, North and South Korea and other Asian nations that suffered under Japan's aggression before and during World War II.

These countries have criticized visits to Yasukuni by prime ministers after the shrine began in October 1978 honoring Prime Minister Hideki Tojo and 13 other Class-A war criminals as being among Japan's war dead.

"I cannot believe the current situation where discord with China and other Asian nations is deepening is a future for Japan desired by the souls of the departed war heroes who consecrated their lives for 'peace in the Orient,' " Togo said.

A former director general of the Foreign Ministry's European and Oceanic Affairs Bureau, Togo is a grandson of Shigenori Togo, who served in Tojo's Cabinet as foreign minister from October 1941 to August 1942.

The elder Togo also served as foreign minister from April 1945 and led efforts to bring an end to the war. Japan surrendered that Aug. 15.

Togo did not make clear what would constitute criteria for removing the moratorium.