Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, ignoring criticism from home and abroad, visited the war criminals-honoring Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo early Tuesday morning.

Koizumi, in a tailcoat, arrived at the shrine at around 7:40 a.m. local time Tuesday (2240 GMT Monday). He then bowed in the main hall of the shrine.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry, in a statement, lodged a strong protest against Tuesday's visit by Koizumi to the shrine, which has been regarded as a symbol of the past Japanese militarism.

Koizumi has visited the shrine for five consecutive years since he took office in April 2001. But Tuesday's visit was the first he had paid on Aug. 15, the anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War Two.

Koizumi, who last visited the shrine on October 17, 2005, is expected to step down as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) as well as premier in September.

The Yasukuni Shrine, established in 1869 under Emperor Meiji, honors 2.5 million Japanese war dead including 14 class-A war criminals responsible for the most atrocious crimes during Japan's war of aggression against its Asian neighbors.

In 1978, 14 class-A war criminals, including wartime prime minister Hideki Tojo, were listed as the enshrined at the Yasukuni Shrine.

Koizumi's visits to the shrine have been denounced by countries which suffered Japan's brutal aggression before and during World War II.

Koizumi's previous visits have chilled Japan's relations with neighboring China and South Korea, making the issue the major stumbling block in the smooth development of relations with those countries.

The visits also drew criticism from the public and news media in Japan. According to a recent opinion poll conducted by Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, 49 percent of the respondents are opposed to Koizumi's shrine visit as compared with 43 percent in favor.

Even in the United States, Koizumi's shrine visits have come under fire.

U.S. House of Representatives Committee on International Relations Chairman Henry J. Hyde had in April sent a letter to the speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, demanding Koizumi not be invited for a speech at Congress during his June visit to the United States, unless Tokyo pledged the Japanese leader would not pay any Shrine visit after returning home.

Source: Xinhua