The latest telephone poll by Mainichi Shimbun found 63 percent support establishing a new war memorial as a substitute for Tokyo's notorious Yasukuni Shrine, outnumbering 28 percent who are against, the major Japanese newspaper reported Tuesday.

The supporters said Japan should build a non-religionary memorial service facility for the country's war dead who are now enshrined at Yasukuni together with the Class-A war criminals responsible for Japan's aggression war against its Asian neighbors.

The survey also shows some 51 percent opposed Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's further visits to the war-related shrine, outnumbering 39 percent who expressed support.

A similar poll conducted by Mainichi Shimbun in May found 50 percent are against Koizumi's further Yasukuni visits, outnumbering 41 percent who expressed support.

Koizumi has visited the shrine once a year since taking office in April 2001. In May, the premier indicated a plan to again visit the shrine sometime this year.

The telephone poll conducted Saturday and Sunday is based on replies from 1,077 randomly selected voters throughout the nation, the Mainichi Shimbun said.

Source: Xinhua