 Governor Ishihara must cancel Yasukuni Shrine visit: JCPThe Japanese Communist Party Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly member group has urged Tokyo Governor Ishihara Shintaro to cancel his visit to Yasukuni Shrine on August 15. He has visited the war shrine for four consecutive years on the anniversary of the end of World War II. The JCP group on August 12 handed in a petition note addressed to the governor, that stated, "Since Class-A war criminals are enshrined at Yasukuni Shrine as a religious organization glossing over the war of aggression, your visit to the war shrine violates Article 20 of the Constitution stipulating that: 'The State and its organs shall refrain from religious education or any other religious activity'." The JCP assembly members also demanded that the governor observe the Fukuoka District Court decision last April that Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro's worship at Yasukuni Shrine was ruled unconstitutional. "If the governor as well as the prime minister dare to visit the shrine again, it will put obstacles to the cause of friendship and solidarity between Japan and the other Asian countries," said the JCP representatives. (end) |