The Supreme Court will rule June 23 on a lawsuit over Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's 2001 visit to Yasukuni Shrine, which the plaintiffs say violated the Constitution, court officials said Tuesday.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The top court's five-justice Second Petty Bench, led by Justice Isao Imai, is likely to uphold the 2005 Osaka High Court ruling in favor of Koizumi because no hearings on the case have been convened. The court usually holds a hearing in cases where lower court decisions are overturned, according to legal experts.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The case will be the first Supreme Court ruling on Koizumi's annual visits to the Shinto shrine, which have drawn sharp criticism from China and South Korea. Similar lawsuits have been filed with courts around the country.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Asian countries invaded and occupied by Japan during the war say Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni show that Japan is insincere in its apologies for wartime atrocities.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The suit centers on Koizumi's first visit as prime minister to Yasukuni on Aug. 13, 2001, two days before the 56th anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War II.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Hundreds of plaintiffs filed the suit against the prime minister, the government and the shrine, seeking 10,000 yen in damages per plaintiff and a court declaration that the visit violated Article 20 of the Constitution, which reads, 'The state and its organs shall refrain from religious education or any other religious activity.'</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>In February 2004, the Osaka District Court rejected the plaintiffs' demands but did not rule on whether Koizumi violated the Constitution. It did rule, however, that the visit was official because Koizumi 'went there in –

capacity as prime minister."

In July 2005, the Osaka High Court turned down the plaintiffs' appeal of the district court decision, issuing no opinion on the constitutionality of the shrine visit. The high court also refrained from ruling on whether the visit was official in nature.

The plaintiffs include relatives of people killed in the war and those of faiths other than Shinto believers, such as Buddhists and Christians.

On his first visit to the shrine, Koizumi arrived in an official car accompanied by his staff and signed a guest book giving his title as prime minister.