According to a survey reported in the Asahi today including some 808 responses, some 71% respondents “can’t understand” China’s demand that Japan face the question of its historical conciousness of the war. On the other hand, 48% reported that they believed Japanese prime ministers should stop visiting the controversial Yasukuni shrine (36% say he should continue), which is a 9% increase over last November. About 51% of respondents believed that China’s own history education system was a “large influence” on China’s anti-Japanese sentiment.

In a separate brilliantly stupid move, Koizumi cited Confucius in defence of his Yasukuni shrine visits which include the Class-A war criminals, “Condemn the offense, but pity the offender.”