In disregard of opposition at home and abroad, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi paid a controversial visit to Yasukuni Shrine on Monday, two days before the Aug. 15 anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War II. By avoiding going on Wednesday, the date originally planned, Mr. Koizumi apparently tried to achieve two aims: acknowledging widespread opposition to the visit, on the one hand, while meeting the wishes of Shinto religious organizations -- which are a power base for the Liberal Democratic Party -- on the other.
The change of date does not serve any positive purpose as long as the fact remains that Prime Minister Koizumi visited the shrine. It neither mitigates severe criticism from China and South Korea nor helps encourage countries in Asia to have confidence in Japan as a nation dedicated to pacifism. It only serves to make many Japanese suspect that the nation's top official lacks integrity, a quality that is essential in steering the nation in these difficult times.
As a result of Mr. Koizumi's visit to the shrine, once a symbol of Japanese militarism, Japan's diplomatic relations with its neighbors seem certain to deteriorate. It may not take so long to settle the issues raised by his visit at a governmental level, but it will take some time before the anger and distrust provoked by his shrine visit are adequately dispelled. Mr. Koizumi has committed a folly by stirring up enmity among Chinese and Koreans against Japan at a time when his administration must focus its attention elsewhere on the domestic front.