When Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi wrapped up his two-day visit to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum Saturday evening, he headed home without making headway in mending Japan's strained relations with China and South Korea.
The spotlight was on what he would do about the ties with Japan's two most important neighbors after they turned sour because of his repeated visits to Yasukuni Shrine.
In the end, Koizumi was denied a one-on-one meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao, and failed to secure assurances that reciprocal visits by the leaders of Japan and South Korea would continue without a hitch. When he got together with President Roh Moo Hyun, Koizumi did not get a response on whether he will visit Japan next month as planned.
Koizumi had hoped he could persuade Roh to show understanding for his visits to the war-linked shrine from "a long-term perspective."