In a surprise move that risked angering China, the United States and other nations that were victims of Japan's World War Two actions, Hashimoto declared the time had come for Japan to stop apologising for honouring its war dead.

Hashimoto brushed aside suggestions that it was inappropriate for him as prime minister to visit Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, where 2.6 million Japanese who died in warfare since the 19th century are honoured.

``Why should it matter any more?'' Hashimoto told reporters. ``Surely it's time to stop letting that sort of thing complicate our international relations.''

A controversy erupted in the mid-1980s over politicians visiting the memorial when it was disclosed that the Shinto place of worship also enshrined the remains of executed World War Two criminals, including wartime Prime Minister General Hideki Tojo.

Some families have protested against the enshrining of Tojo and other war leaders, saying their spirits had no place among soldiers who were ordered to die on the battlefields.

But others have said there should be no distinction between those who died in battle and those executed for war crimes.

When Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone made an ``official'' visit to the shrine in 1985, China, South Korea, North Korea and other countries angrily protested.

Since then, no prime minister had visited Yasukuni.

Hashimoto's brief visit was not listed in his daily schedule and he refused to say in what capacity he made the visit. Asked why he visited the shrine on this day, Hashimoto, 59, replied it was his birthday.

``I am not going to reply whether I went there in an official or private capacity,'' Hashimoto said. But he said he signed the shrine visitors book as ``Ryutaro Hashimoto, prime minister.''

It was not the first time the right-wing Hashimoto has flirted with controversy over World War Two.

In October 1994 he set off a furore by saying in parliament that while Japan turned the Pacific into a war zone, its fight was not against Asian nations but against ``the United States, England and others.''

The most-closely watched day for visits to the shrine is August 15, the date of Japan's World War Two surrender.

Before becoming prime minister early this year, Hashimoto paid regular visits to the shrine, including on August 15, in his capacity as head of the Japan Bereaved Families of War Veterans Association.

Hashimoto said that by visiting on Monday, he had avoided making the pilgrimage on the August 15 anniversary.

``I'm also thinking of going on the day I got word of the death of my cousin in the war,'' Hashimoto said.

Shinto, Japan's ancient animistic religion, was the state religion until 1945, with the emperor as its spiritual head.

Some political analysts were surprised Hashimoto chose to visit the shrine in the midst of a row about how much compensation Japan should pay to so-called ``Comfort Women.''

They were non-Japanese women forced to work in brothels for Japanese soldiers in World War Two.

But other analysts said that, with speculation rife about a possible general election before the end of the year, Hashimoto's visit was a way of avoiding alienating voters on either side of the fence on the war issue.

They said his visit to the shrine showed respect for the war dead without triggering the liberal backlash that would have followed a visit to the shrine on August 15.

30-Jul-1996

TOKYO (AP) Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto visited a controversial shrine for Japan's war dead Monday, the first serving Japanese leader to do so in more than a decade.

Visits by Japanese officials to the Yasukuni Shrine are highly sensitive because World War II war criminals also are enshrined there. Paying homage to them is seen by critics as a defense of Japan's wartime aggression.

"Why should it matter any more?" Hashimoto told Kyodo News at the shrine. "It's time to stop letting that sort of thing complicate our international relations."

China was quick to denounce Hashimoto's visit Monday.

"The way Prime Minister Hashimoto worshipped hurt the feelings of all the people from every country including China which suffered under the hands of Japanese militarists," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Cui Tiankai in comments reported on state-run television.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry, however, issued a restrained statement that avoided direct criticism of Hashimoto.

Hashimoto has hawkish views on Japan's wartime role. He headed Japan's largest organization for families of World War II dead until last year, and stirred controversy two years ago when he refused to call Japan's wartime actions "aggression."

Kyodo said Hashimoto chose Monday for the visit because it was his 59th birthday.

Hashimoto said it was "ridiculous" to ask whether he was visiting as a private citizen or in his official capacity," Kyodo reported.

Hashimoto's private office said questions about the visit should be handled by the prime minister's office. That office, however, would not comment on the visit and said it was not included in his official schedule. Shrine officials, however, confirmed his appearance.

"We strongly protest this `official visit' by Prime Minister Hashimoto, which glorifies war and praises the war dead as `heroic spirits,"' said Takemitsu Ogawa, the head of a pacifist group of war victims' families.

The visit could trouble Japan's relations with Asian neighbors at a time when it is facing criticism for refusing to provide official direct compensation to women forced into sexual slavery by Japanese troops during the war. The government wants the victims to accept one-time consolation money through a private fund.

30-Jul-1996