Japanese split over how to deal with Yasukuni, China

<snip>Beijing's resentment over Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to the shrine sparked a diplomatic row this week when Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi abruptly cancelled a meeting with Koizumi and cut short her visit to Tokyo.

"I understand why China criticises, but I don't think Prime Minister Koizumi can just bow to China and stop going," said Toshinori Iijima, a 34-year-old employee of an architectural firm, who was visiting Yasukuni with a friend. snip

But the prime minister and other politicians have kept paying their respects at Yasukuni, where 14 Class A war criminals convicted by a 1948 Allied tribunal are enshrined with war dead. snip

"We did unspeakable things in Asia," he said, recalling brutal wartime actions such as forced labour and military experiments with biological weapons in China. snip

"If I were Chinese or Korean I would not forgive," said Tosaka. snip

"We should take out the Class A war criminals and put them somewhere else ... to make it clear we don't want another war."

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