The U.S. media reported widely on the protests against Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Tuesday visit to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which honors war criminals. saying the move has blemished his last days in office.

The Chinese language daily The China Press dedicated a whole page to the shrine visit. The headline, which came with a photo showing Chinese protesters outside the Japanese embassy in Beijing, slammed the Japanese Prime Minister's disregard of the feelings of the peoples of China and South Korea.

A commentary by the daily said that Koizumi's repeated visits to this controversial shrine that honors war criminals, has plunged Japan's relations with China and South Korea to the lowest point in over a decade.

His visits to the Yasukuni Shrine showed that Japan didn't face up to its war-time history and the atrocious crimes it had committed against some Asian countries.

The New York Times said, Koizumi prayed at the Yasukuni Shrine on Tuesday, "choosing the most politically sensitive and diplomatically explosive day" for his last visit to the shrine, while still being in office.

"Koizumi visited the shrine despite warnings from Japan's immediate Asian neighbors and influential groups inside Japan; and U.S. officials worried that these annual visits were needlessly straining Japan's relations with China," it said, adding that the visit has triggered strong reactions from China and South Korea.

A report carried by The Washington Post said that rifts do exist within Japan itself over this issue of the shrine visits by Koizumi, but it also pointed out that an increasing number of Japanese citizens have started opposing prayer offers by their leaders at the controversial shrine.

Source: Xinhua