People who are against Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to the war-related Yasukuni Shrine outnumbered those who expressed support in two separate telephone polls by major Japanese newspapers, according to their results released Monday.

A survey by the Mainichi Shimbun found 50 percent are against Koizumi making further visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, outnumbering 41 percent who expressed support.

In a poll by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, 42 percent expressed opposition, while 38 percent said they approve of such visits.

Yasukuni, a Shinto shrine in Tokyo, honors 14 Class-A World War II war criminals who are responsible for Japan's aggression war against its Asian neighbors. Japanese leaders' visits to the notorious shrine have been strongly protested Asian countries, particularly China and South Korea, which suffered from Japanese aggression army's atrocities during the war.

Koizumi has visited the notorious Yasukuni Shrine once a year since taking office in April 2001. Last month, the premier indicated a plan at a parliament meeting to again visit the shrine sometime this year.

Support for Koizumi's Cabinet rose 4 points from the previous survey in April to 48 percent, while the disapproval rating dropped 2 points to 39 percent, according to the Nihon Keizai.

The Mainichi said Cabinet support stood at 41 percent, down 1 percentage point from the previous survey in April, while disapproval rose 3 points to 38 percent.

The Mainichi conducted the telephone poll Saturday and Sunday. The results are based on replies from 1,054 randomly selected voters throughout the nation.

The Nihon Keizai results are based on replies from 1,704 households with voters in a survey conducted between Thursday and Sunday.

Source: Xinhua