Today's Washington Post reports that Japan's Supreme Court has rejected a constitutional challenge to controversial visits by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to Japan's Yasukuni Shrine which honors Japan's 2.5 million war dead, including criminals executed for war crimes after World War II. China and South Korea consider the shrine to be a glorification of Japan's past militarist policies. The court challenge, however, argued that the Prime Minister's visits to the shrine, which is also a Shinto Temple, were violations of the principle of separation of church and state. Koizumi argues that his visits were made in a private capacity to pray for peace. (See prior related postings: 1, 2, 3, 4. )
UPDATE: The Japan Times reported on June 24 that court dismissed the case on the ground that Koizumi's visits to the shrine in no way interfered with the plaintiffs' religious faith. The court avoided deciding whether Koizumi's visits were official or private.
