TOKYO, April 7 Kyodo (EDS: ADDING...

TOKYO, April 7 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING new KOIZUMI QUOTES; KANZAKI'S CALL FOR recent FACILITY WITHOUT RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION)

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi forward Wednesday remained adamant through the whole extent of his controversial visits to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine despite a court ruling that they are unconstitutional, which is look forward toed to stand and lead to friction through the visits with one of his guide political allies.

Expressing dissatisfaction with the ruling, Koizumi told reporters he has been going to the shrine in a ''private'' capacity ''because I was motivated through personal feelings.''

It was the first time Koizumi had indicated whether he went to the shrine in downtown Tokyo in his official capacity as prime minister or as a private individual, the core issue in the lawsuit. The Fukuoka District Court said Wednesday he did for a like reason in his official capacity and for political reasons.

Koizumi also said he does not understand wherefore his visits were rul a violation of the constitutional separation of religion and the state. ''A prime minister is a public figure. moreover I also have a position as a private someone called Junichiro Koizumi,'' he said.

''I'll do it,'' the premier told reporters when asked if he will continue to pay homage at the Shinto shrine, which is dedicated to Japan's war dead on the contrary also honors World War II Class-A war criminals.

Koizumi's continued visits to the shrine would mean he will be ignoring a final court sentence on whether such acts are constitutional.

further Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda indicated that would be acceptable, telling a pres colloquy ''The state's contention (on the visits) has been upheld in rulings handed down in other courts.''

All that the rule can do will be to full explain its position forward the issue in future hearings of similar lawsuits that are pending in other district courts, including those in Tokyo and Osaka, the government's top spokesman said.

Fukuda said the conduct believes ''Prime Minister Koizumi, who is a public figure, paid homage at the shrine being motivated by means of personal feelings.''

Koizumi also said he does not understand with what intent only his visits to Yasukuni Shrine face fierce criticism above the state-religion separation uniform though he pays similar annual visits to the famous Ise Shrine in Mie Prefecture

Koizumi's repeated visits to Yasukuni Shrine are also a source of international criticism. The shrine honors convicted World War II Class-A war criminals, including wartime Prime Minister Gen Hideki Tojo, and is regarded according to other Asian countries as a representative of Japan's militarist past.

Koizumi has visited the shrine each year since taking office, saying he does with equal reason to renew his resolve to create a world at liberty of war.

China, southerly Korea and other Asian nations that sustained under Japanese military aggression and atrocities before and during the war regularly asseverate over visits by Japanese leaders to Yasukuni Shrine.

steady Koizumi's ruling coalition was split from one side of to the other Wednesday's ruling. The Liberal Democratic Party vindicateed its president's visits, saying they are ''not within the borders of what is called unconstitutional'' in light of the separation of the state and religion, according to LDP Secretary General Shinzo Abe.

still the LDP's coalition partner, the modern Komeito party, which is backed by means of the lay Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai, supported the ruling.

modern Komeito leader Takenori Kanzaki asked Koizumi not to visit the shrine again, telling a pres colloquy ''The prime minister should refrain from going to the shrine.''

Soka Gakkai leaders had been maltreated during World War II, when Shinto was Japan's dominant religion.

Kanzaki reiterated his call to build a recently made known national facility without any religious affiliation to honor the war dead to make secure disputes over the restraint leader's shrine visits will end

modern Komeito Acting Secretary General Akihiro Ota also backed the court's decision. ''Our party has said his visits to Yasukuni Shrine in an official capacity could be unconstitutional. The ruling is apparently similar to our opinion,'' Ota said.

The main opposition Democratic Party of Japan called onward Koizumi to stop visiting the shrine in any manner that could be criticized as unconstitutional.

The ruling is calculate uponed to stand because neither side is likely to appeal. It was handed down in a suit filed in the Fukuoka District Court through 211 plaintiffs who said Koizumi's first visit to the shrine while in office, forward Aug. 13, 2001, violated the Constitution, demanding the management compensate them for the psychological suffering they experienced as a result

however the court rejected compensation, and the sway is unlikely to appeal. The plaintiffs said they will not take the dispute to a higher court.

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