Former Yasukuni Shrine official Hisao Baba, 81, can still remember clearly a conversation he had some 60 years ago with the top priest of the controversial Shinto shrine.</PARAGRAPH> <PHOTO> <TABLE WIDTH='250' ALIGN='RIGHT' BORDER='0'> <TR> <TD><IMG ALT='News photo' BORDER='0' SRC='../images/photos2006/nn20060723a4a.jpg' WIDTH='250' HEIGHT='364'/></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><FONT SIZE='1'><B>Emperor Hirohito is accompanied by then Imperial Household Agency Grand Steward Tomohiko Tomita –

in Kashihara, Nara Prefecture, in May 1981. KYODO FILE PHOTO

It was only a few years after seven Class-A war criminals, including Gen. Hideki Tojo, were hung in 1948 following Japan's surrender in World War II.