Police arrested a rightist Tuesday upon his discharge from a Yamagata Prefecture hospital in connection with the arson blaze that gutted the family home of Liberal Democratic Party heavyweight Koichi Kato hours after he criticized Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Aug. 15 visit to Yasukuni Shrine.
Masahiro Horigome, 65, who was identified as a member of a Tokyo-based rightwing group, was arrested on suspicion of arson, police spokesman Hiroyuki Takahashi said, without further identifying the group.
Kato had made numerous TV appearances on Aug. 15 criticizing Koizumi for visiting Yasukuni Shrine on the anniversary of Japan's World War II surrender. The arson attack took place later that evening.
Horigome was found collapsed on the grounds of the residence in Tsuruoka with apparently self-inflicted abdominal wounds and was taken to a hospital.
Koizumi went to Yasukuni Shrine on Aug. 15 to fulfill a 2001 campaign promise when he ran for the Liberal Democratic Party presidency, shrugging off several days of demonstrations in Tokyo by those who feel the shrine glorifies Japanese militarism and in defiance of complaints from China and South Korea.
The shrine honors Japan's 2.5 million war dead, as well as Class-A war criminals. Many in Asia see Koizumi's visits as proof that Japan has not atoned for its past aggression.
The visit further strained ties with China and South Korea that had already fallen to their lowest point in decades due to Koizumi's earlier visits to Yasukuni and a host of spats over history, territory, natural resources and other issues.
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