Japan PM war shrine visit ruled unconstitutional
BBC News : Japan PM war shrine visit illegal
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/image..._shrine203.jpg
Quote:
A court in Japan has ruled the prime minister's visits to a controversial war shrine are unconstitutional.
A number of war criminals are buried at the Yasukuni shrine, which Junichiro Koizumi has visited four times since taking office in 2001.
The district court said that the visits violated laws on the separation of church and state.
But Mr Koizumi said that he found the ruling on his visit "strange" and would go to the shrine again in the future.
"I don't know why it violated the constitution," he said.
Government officials have argued that Mr Koizumi's visits were made as a private citizen, and therefore did not breach the constitutional separation of church and state.
If even the Prime Minister doesn't understand the constitution or political implications for neighbouring countries of visiting Yasukuni Jinja, then what should we expect from other politician or the average Japanese citizen ? Maybe is it just another proof that heads of states are not the brightest elements of a nation.
Koizumi shrine visit ruled unconstitutional
[pquote]FUKUOKA (Kyodo) Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine in August 2001 was unconstitutional because it violated the separation of state and religion, the Fukuoka District Court ruled Wednesday.
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Plaintiffs carry a banner protesting Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine as they enter the Fukuoka District Court, which later ruled on their lawsuit against Koizumi and the government.
In the first ruling of its kind concerning Koizumi's visits to the Shinto shrine, which honors the nation's war dead as well as convicted Class-A war criminals, the court said the visit falls under religious activity that the state is banned from participating in under the Constitution.
[/quote]
Japan Times
Prime minister pledges Yasukuni return
And here's a follow-up article to that...
Quote:
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Wednesday that he will keep visiting Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine despite a Fukuoka District Court ruling that his August 2001 trip there, the first of four, violated the Constitution.
http://www.japantimes.com/images/pho...0040408a2a.jpg
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi
Dedicated to Japan's war dead, the Shinto shrine in Chiyoda Ward also honors convicted Class-A war criminals. It served as a spiritual pillar of the nation during the war and is still regarded by other parts of Asia as a symbol of Japan's wartime military aggression.
Japan Times
Please pardon the cheeky post
Quote:
Originally Posted by celtician
And why are all Japanese politicians so damn plug ugly is it so that foreign dignitaries hesitate to invite them and therefore Japan can remain wantonly isolated??
Oh, Koizumi isn't that bad-looking. In fact, if it weren't for his complete disregard and disrespect for other countries, his utter idiocy in foreign affairs, and other items that pretty much make him a horrible human being (if even one at all), I'd say he could very well be the subject of many a dreamy yaoi fanfics!
Quote:
Originally Posted by made up fanfic
Koizumi sat on the leather couch in a small room in the White House, preening his silver-grey locks with a brush and staring wistfully at the doorway. Where could he be? he wondered, anxiously biting his lower lip. Finally, at long last, his lover arrived.
Bush: My dear! Are you okay?
Koizumi: Darling! O how I've waited for you! *flutters eyelashes* O it was so miserable with... HER. Thankfully I've sent her away.... for now.
Bush: Th-That cur of a fangirl! How dare Condi Rice treat you so badly!
Koizumi: Oh her? I was talking about the Harriet Miers lady. The other one I sent to somewhere far, far away. Like.... MASSACHUSETTS! *ROFLMAO, d00d 1 4|\|/| 50 733T. PH34R |\/|Y P0\/\/3R!!!*
Bush: *wince* Please don't use netspeak. You know since I can't even get ENGLISH right...
Koizumi: *random, non-sequitar gesture that makes no sense within the context of this fanfic* I'm sorry.
Bush: *runs and hides, again in a nonsequitar way*
Koizumi: Hyde? HAIDO-sama?! Did someone say HYDE?!!!! OMG I must have that luscious body *playfully chases after Bush*
Bush: WHEEEEEEEEEE!!! ZZAP!!! SPICKLE! VROOM!!!! *insert other unneccessary noise effects and exclamations here*
Koizumi: *insert random and unneccessary emoticon here*
Voice at the door: Ahem!
Bush & Koizumi, together: D-Dick Cheney?!?!?!?! :eek: :shock:
TO BE CONTINUED...
...Actually, nevermind I said anything.