Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was set to make his planned controversial visit to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine on Monday afternoon instead of on Wednesday's anniversary of Japan's World War II surrender, sources close to him said Monday.
The decision to visit the shrine, which honors Japan's war dead, at around 4:30 p.m. was conveyed to top officials of the governing coalition by Koizumi's aides earlier in the day, the sources added.
Since assuming office in April, Koizumi had expressed his desire to pay his respects at the shrine on Aug. 15, the anniversary of the end of the war.