Special to The Japan Times CAMBRIDGE, England -- A lot has been written about Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's third visit to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. Much of it had a high emotional content. Now that the initial furor has died down we can step back and give it a bit more thought.
Many of the commentators on the visit explained it in terms of domestic politics. It is being seen as something that had to be done to appease the rightwing of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to keep it on board ahead of the autumn elections. The logic assumed is that by getting the visit out of the way now, the negative reactions of everyone else will have died down by the time the election campaign gets under way. I don't think so.
The LDP rightwingers will want the prime minister to go again in the autumn, to prove he is still one of them or at least that he is willing to do what ever they want to keep their support. Koizumi himself said the reason he went again was that he wanted, as an individual, to pray for peace. I don't think so.
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