The five candidates running for president of the Liberal Democratic Party were grilled Friday by foreign correspondents in Tokyo over issues ranging from Yasukuni Shrine to the possibility of having a female vice president.
During a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan, Yuriko Koike, the LDP's first female presidential candidate, and Nobuteru Ishihara, the eldest son of outspoken Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, both stated they would visit Yasukuni Shrine if elected prime minister.
Economic and fiscal policy minister Kaoru Yosano firmly rejected going to the controversial shrine, while former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and LDP Secretary General Taro Aso declined to give a clear answer.