''We do not want our tribepeople's names to be placed in such a wrong place,'' Yunlis, a representative of the Taiya tribe, told a press conference.

''Our families are victims, not killers, and their names should not be put together with those war criminals,'' she added.

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.

Representatives of Taiwan's aboriginal tribes embarked later in the day on a five-day trip to Tokyo, where they are scheduled to meet with civic groups and submit a protest letter to a Yasukuni Shrine official.

''A total of 27,000 sacred souls, despite most names left unknown, should return to their homeland instead of staying abroad,'' aboriginal lawmaker May Chin told reporters.

''It is widely known that the aboriginal tribes do not build up tombs nor worship ancestors, because we believe their souls are with us everywhere in nature,'' Chin said. ''But this time it is a matter of history and justice, and that is why we must bring those names as well as souls back home.''

During World War II, the Japanese colonial government in Taiwan recruited over 400,000 Koreans and Taiwanese, who were sent to Southeast Asia and the Pacific as army laborers.

Among those enlisted, members of the ''Aboriginal Volunteer Army'' from Taiwan were known for their exceptional physical condition and ability to fight in jungles and mountains. They were mostly sent to the front lines.

Two-thirds of them did not come home alive, while many of those who did spent the rest of their lives heavily handicapped or seriously ill.

The Japanese government in 1987 passed legislation to compensate families of veterans around 2 million yen per death.

But Shizue Fujii, director of Japanese Department at National Chengchi University, said that apart from offering cash compensation and a formal apology, ''how to respect those who sacrificed their lives for Japan is an important lesson for the Japanese government to learn in the post-colonialism era.''