The top court ruled that Koizumi's visit to the Tokyo war shrine did not infringe on the plaintiffs' rights, upholding a 2005 ruling by the Osaka High Court.

The case was the first top court ruling over Koizumi's contentious visits to Yasukuni, which have caused diplomatic friction with China and South Korea.

"The act of an individual visiting a shrine is not something that interferes with others' religious faiths," presiding Justice Isao Imai said.

"Even if someone finds it distasteful if others visit a particular shrine, it does not immediately hold them liable for damages. This (logic) also applies to the case of a prime minister visiting Yasukuni Shrine," the court decision said.

As in the rulings by the Osaka District Court and Osaka High Court, the Supreme Court declined to rule on whether Koizumi violated the Constitution, saying there is no need to judge the constitutionality of his visit because the plaintiffs' claims were baseless.

The top court declined to give an opinion about whether the visit was official or private, even though Koizumi signed the shrine guest register with his title.

The suit was filed against Koizumi after his first visit as prime minister to Yasukuni on Aug. 13, 2001.

The plaintiffs branded the ruling as "sophistry" and criticized the top court for shirking its responsibility to make a legal judgment on the constitutionality of Koizumi's shrine visit.

Ryuken Sugahara, a plaintiff whose father was killed in the war, said, "Koizumi is using the war dead to deny Japan's war responsibility."

The plaintiffs filed the suit against Koizumi, the state and the shrine, seeking ¥10,000 in damages per plaintiff, and a court ruling that the visit violated Article 20 of the Constitution, which defines Japan as a secular state.

The Japan Times Weekly: July 1, 2006
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