Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka on Friday proposed separately enshrining seven hanged class-A war criminals memorialized at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine and stripping it of its religious status to enable the prime minister and Cabinet ministers to pay official visits there to honor Japan's war dead.

Some 2.4 million Japanese personnel and officials who died in wars since 1853 are enshrined at Yasukuni.

The shrine is widely regarded as a bastion of wartime government-sponsored Shintoism and a symbol of Japanese militarism before and during World War II.

"After (removing the seven), we should take away the shrine's status as a religious organization and make it a special government-affiliated corporation," Nonaka said.

Visits to the shrine by Cabinet officials have drawn criticism from China and some other Asian neighbors. They are also controversial because Japan's postwar Constitution stipulates the separation of state and religion.

"This is an important time for thinking about how all the Japanese people, including the prime minister, can pay their respects to Japan's war dead from the bottom of their heart," Nonaka said.

Nonaka said that the government should also make it possible for foreign leaders who visit Japan to offer flowers to those who died for the country.

Earlier in the day, LDP Secretary General Yoshiro Mori said the LDP will discuss how to allow official visits to be made at Yasukuni Shrine by the prime minister and Cabinet members.

"It's peculiar that, come August, the mass media ask each Cabinet minister who goes to the shrine whether the visit is personal or official," he said. "It's odd that they are unable to formally pay reverence to those who gave their lives for the country."

Mori also said that there have long been discussions on giving Yasukuni Shrine status as a special corporation.

"This issue must be resolved, considering that the flag-anthem law is expected to be established," he added.

A bill to legally recognize the Hinomaru and "Kimigayo" as Japan's official flag and anthem is likely to become law as early as Monday.

Meanwhile, New Komeito Secretary General Tetsuzo Fuyushiba called on the government to establish a panel made up of scholars and experts on the Constitution and religion to discuss the issue.

Fuyushiba opposes official visits at the present time by senior government officials.

"They are free to make personal visits, but until the government draws a conclusion, the prime minister and Cabinet members should refrain from using public funds to visit," he said.

This year, nine Cabinet ministers, including Environment Agency chief Kenji Manabe and Transport Minister Jiro Kawasaki, have expressed their intention to visit Yasukuni Shrine on Aug. 15, the 54th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II.

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, Nonaka and eight other ministers have said they will not visit the shrine.