Defense Agency chief Torashima to visit Yasukuni
Shrine
TOKYO, Aug. 4 Kyodo - Defense Agency chief
Kazuo Torashima said Friday he will make
an official visit to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine,
which is dedicated to Japan's war dead, on
Aug. 15, the anniversary of the end of World
War II.
''My elder brother was killed in the war
at the age of 19. I visit the shrine twice
a year,'' Torashima, 72, told reporters.
''I would like to pay a visit this year as
well.''
Yasukuni Shrine was a bastion of government-sponsored
Shintoism before and during the war. It enshrines
some 2.4 million Japanese military personnel
who died in various wars since 1853. Seven
class-A war criminals who were hanged are
also enshrined there.
==Kyodo
