Four movie theaters in Tokyo and one in Osaka have decided not to screen "Yasukuni," a documentary on Japan's war shrine. Rightist groups protested against the planned screenings with vehicle-mounted loudspeakers and harassing telephone calls. Most movie theaters cited possible inconveniences to the audience and local communities as the reason for their decisions. Regrettably, their decisions restrict freedom of speech and expression. The film cannot be seen in the capital. About a dozen cinemas in other areas including Osaka plan to screen it.

The situation reminds one of the refusal early this year by Hotel Shin Takanawa in Tokyo to let the Japan Teachers' Union (Nikkyoso) use a large room for its study meeting in defiance of a Jan. 30 Tokyo High Court injunction.

The movie was directed by Mr. Li Ying, a Chinese movie director who has lived in Japan for many years. He spent 10 years making the documentary, which shows visitors to the shrine holding different views on the war and the shrine itself, and a swordsmith who made "Yasukuni Swords."