For Tokyo native Mie Kondo, 31, Yasukuni Shrine is no more than a scenic area she used to visit with her family and a sightseeing spot to which she still likes taking visitors.
The shrine, according to its own tally, has 5 million annual visitors. Many are like Nakamura, who goes there to take in the seasonal events of a large shrine and harbor little nationalistic sentiment. Others -- including relatives of the war dead and politicians -- go to pray for the people enshrined there.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was part of the estimated 270,000 visitors to the shrine during the first three days of 2004, when he paid a visit on New Year's Day.