TOKYO, Aug. 7 Kyodo -- Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will not pay a visit to war-related Yasukuni Shrine on Aug. 15, the 57th anniversary of the end of World War II, the top government spokesman said Wednesday.
''Prime Minister Koizumi will not pay homage to the shrine Aug. 15,'' Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda told reporters, noting the premier already visited the Tokyo shrine in April.
The Shinto shrine, widely viewed as a symbol of Japan's wartime militarism, honors the nation's 2.5 million war dead, including 14 Class-A war criminals.
Visits to the shrine by Japanese prime ministers have repeatedly sparked protests in neighboring Asia countries that suffered under Japan's military aggression before and during the war.
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