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Editor's note: Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited the Yasukuni Shrine Tuesday morning, igniting strong protests from neighboring countries. The following are comments from some scholars.

Zhang Tuosheng, researcher with the China Foundation For International and Strategic Studies:

In defiance of strong opposition from international and domestic public opinion, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi paid visit to the Yasukuni Shrine, where Japan's war dead, including 14 Class-A war criminals, are honored. It enrages people as well as makes them feel sorry that a Japanese leader, who often expresses his commitment to reform and demonstrates his maverick personality, bids farewell to the premiership with such an outrageous act.

We are enraged because Koizumi's shrine visit once again severely stings the feelings of the peoples whose countries fell victim to Japanese aggression in history, and sets up one more stumbling block to the improvement of Sino-Japanese ties.

We feel sorry because Koizumi insists that his Yasukuni visit is dictated by his inner feelings, while it is universally acknowledged that a real reform-minded politician must put his country's vital interests and the will of the majority of people above everything else, including his inner feelings.

It is also widely accepted that a genuine politician must face realty squarely and be ready to correct his errors, instead of obstinately clinging to his wrong course simply for the sake of his "face."

Koizumi's act indicates that he is neither a qualified reformer nor a far-sighted politician. His visit to the Yasukuni Shrine once again smears the image of Japan among the international community. The Yasukuni question has become the primary political barrier to the betterment of China-Japan relations during Koizumi's tenure as Japanese prime minister. It is in the fundamental interests of both China and Japan to remove this stumbling block from our way towards improving Sino-Japanese ties as soon as possible.

I believe future Japanese leaders will make the right political decisions. Only when Japanese leaders stop visiting the war shrine can they really help promote Japan's progress along the road of peaceful development and seek its status as a "normal country." This is where Japan's long-term interests lie.

Feng Zhaokui, researcher with the Institute of Japanese Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences:

While the voices opposing Junichiro Koizumi's Yasukuni visit were getting increasingly loud inside Japan, Japanese right-wingers threw their weight behind Koizumi, supporting his shrine visit.

Koizumi, egged on by such supports, visited Yasukuni for the sixth time during his tenure and fulfilled his pledge that he would visit the shrine on August 15, the date marking the end of World War II in the Asia-Pacific with Japan's unconditional surrender in 1945. In the eyes of Koizumi, the only thing that counts is his "personal pledge" and "personal conviction," while everything else victim countries' opposition, the need of the souls of Japanese war dead to rest in peace, and the United States' displeasure over his visit pales into insignificance.

In sum, all that is crammed into his head is "personal" this and "personal" that. All other things are non-existent in his mind: "the people," "moral good," "national interests," and "international community."

Then what on earth is Koizumi's "conviction"? It is nothing but the erroneous historical outlook deeply rooted in his mind, which asserts that Japan's prosperity today is built on the sacrifices made by the Japanese war dead. This theory writes off the peaceful development road taken by post-war Japan, which has led to the country's economic success today, and white-washes the history of aggression committed by the Japanese militarists.

Seeing through Koizumi's intention to ultimately abandon the road of peaceful development and embark on the one of confrontation with Japan's Asian neighbors, the Japanese people at last shout out: "No Yasukuni, no war." This signifies that the Japanese people, who also suffered enormously during the war, will never forget the history and are not easy to deceive.

Zhu Feng, professor with Peking University:

Koizumi's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine is a "malign event" for Asian peoples who fell victim to Japan's aggressive wars.

First, Koizumi chose August 15 for his visit. In his previous visits, Koizumi tried to steer clear of this sensitive date. But this time, he chose August 15.

Koizumi obviously intended to show his defiance to the loud protests raised by other countries. In addition, he tries to see that this "Yasukuni-visit politics" become a political legacy for his successors, fanning the excessive nationalist feelings among the Japanese and turning a blind eye to Japan's isolation from other Asian countries.

Huang Qing, council member of the China Foundation of International Studies:

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited the Yasukuni Shrine every year during his term as the Japanese prime minister but had never chosen August 15 for the visit. Now that he is bowing out as prime minister, Koizumi has staged a more provocative act towards Japan's neighbors, in spite of all.

Koizumi cited two reasons in defending his visit. First, he said, it is Japan's internal affairs. Second, it is very much a matter of "personal inner feelings."

The Yasukuni Shrine constituted the spiritual pillar for Japanese army men in past wars and is still a place where Class-A war criminals are honored. This involves the historical rights and wrongs, the feelings of the peoples of the countries that fell victims to Japan's aggression and the very political foundation on which inter-country relations rest. So the matter goes far beyond the scope of "Japan's internal affairs."

The "personal inner feelings" argument is by no means convincing. Koizumi, as the incumbent Japanese prime minister, represents the Japanese Government. From this perspective, he enjoys very limited room for privacy. It defies reason when the Japanese prime minister gives a free hand to his "inner feelings" when such a sensitive affair as the Yasukuni visit, which also carries important international significance, is involved.

Koizumi's repeated Yasukuni visits have something to do with his personality, values and promises. But all these are not the primary motivations. The most important motive is his eagerness to accommodate the rising rightist national sentiments inside Japan and, therefore, haul in political resources. All this involves the direction in which Japanese politics will move in the future.

Koizumi tries to catapult Japan into big-power status by insinuating into the United States' favor at the expense of Japan's neighbors. He could not be more foolish, because he has chosen a road of self-isolation and self-marginalization. When he goes too far on this road, the United States would not give him the favor he wants.

Changes have taken place in the mentality of many Japanese, with many opposing Koizumi's obstinacy. Today, Japan is presented with the question of readjustment of Japanese' mentality. Japan needs to treat its neighbors in a more equal way and with peace of mind. Narrow-minded agony and worries ought to be overcome. The retribution brought upon Japan itself by such a harmful mentality 61 years ago should serve as a mirror today.

Piao Janyi, researcher with the Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences:

The issue of the Korean Peninsula involves not only the internal affairs and diplomacy of both North Korea and South Korea and relations between the north and south, but also the relations between the neighboring big powers and the peninsula, the relationship between the big powers themselves regarding the Korean Peninsula and the relations between international organizations and the Korean Peninsula.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi chose August 15 for his sixth visit to the Yasukuni Shrine. This rubs salt into the old wounds of the Koreans who were subject to Japanese colonial rule and are now having disputes with Japan over territorial matters and issues concerning exclusive economic zones. Koizumi's act could prompt North and South Koreas to get closer with each other over a string of questions such as history, territories and maritime rights.

Koizumi's conduct now poses a barrier to big powers' getting actively involved in addressing a string of issues on the Korean Peninsula and bringing about in Northeast Asia a climate favorable to international co-operation and peace.

Lau Nai-keung, member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference from Hong Kong:

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine, where war criminals are honored along with the country's war dead, is an official expression of contempt for the international court that passed these judgments. He has visited the shrine repeatedly, despite persistent protests from neighboring countries that lost tens of millions of lives because of the atrocities committed by these criminals.

The message is clear: The Japanese Government does not accept these judgments, and regards those war criminals as national war heroes worthy of regular official worships. Is this the attitude of a self-proclaimed peace-loving, civilized, normal country that deserves a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council? No way.

(China Daily August 16, 2006)