German media have denounced Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's latest visit to a notorious Tokyo war shrine,saying the visit had gravely hurt the feelings of those countries victimized by Japan during World War II.

The visit was a "stubborn and stupid goodbye", said the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily, referring to the fact that Koizumi is stepping down in September.

Koizumi's August 15 visit to the controversial shrine, which honors Japan's 2.5 million war dead, including 14 Class-A war criminals, was the first such to be made on the anniversary of Japan's 1945 surrender in World War II.

Koizumi's move further tarnished the international image of Japan which has failed to become reconciled with its neighbors, notably China and South Korea, 61 years after the end of World War II, the daily said in a commentary.

Koizumi's possible successor, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, who has remained relatively low-key about the shrine visit, may behave differently in foreign diplomacy after he becomes the prime minister, said the paper.

Die Welt newspaper said the Chinese government had remained restrained towards Koizumi's shrine visit, which was a sign to Japan's leaders that China remained committed to its political dialogue with Japan.

However, the resumption of dialogue was not possible until the Japanese leaders could solve the shrine issue properly, said Die Welt.

The Der Tagesspiegel said in a story entitled "infuriating commemoration", that the shrine visit had gravely hurt the feelings of the countries victimized during World War II.

The paper highlighted the fact that up to 300,000 Chinese civilians were killed alone in the Nanjing massacre and 10,000 women from South Korea and China were forced to be so-called "comfort women" who served to satisfy the sexual needs of Japanese soldiers.

Source: Xinhua