Japan's five groups of conservative lawmakers and citizens urged Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Tuesday to visit the war-related Yasukuni Shrine on Aug. 15, but the coalition partner of Koizumi's ruling Liberal Democratic Party sought an alternative to the shrine the same day.

According to Kyodo News, the lobbying activities of opposite directions reflect intensifying public concern about Koizumi's contentious shrine visits amid aggravated ties with China and South Korea as the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II approaches.

The conservative groups issued a statement pressing Koizumi to fulfill his initial pledge to visit the Shinto shrine as the prime minister on Aug. 15 -- the day Japan surrendered.

Koizumi pledged to visit the shrine on Aug. 15 in running for the ruling LDP's presidential race in April 2001 by which he became prime minister. He has so far paid yearly visits to the shrine, but on different date than Aug. 15.

China and South Korea have strongly criticized and protested Japanese leaders' visits to the shrine which honors 14 convicted World War II Class-A war criminals responsible for Japan's aggression war and atrocities against its Asian neighboring countries.

The LDP's junior coalition partner, the New Komeito party, meanwhile, asked the government to allocate a budget in fiscal 2006 for research to build a secular national war memorial for enshrinement of Japan's ordinary war dead who are now honored together with the Class-A war criminals in the Yasukuni Shrine.

The proposal that the government build a secular war memorial to separate enshrinement of ordinary war dead and war criminals was made in 2002, but has since been shelved as the public is divided on it.

Source: Xinhua