Japan Koizumi set to visit neighbors

TOKYO, Japan -- Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, under criticism from Asian neighbors for paying homage at a controversial shrine for war dead, is set to visit Southeast Asia in September in an attempt at reconciliation.

Koizumi angered much of Asia, especially China and Korea which suffered most under Japan's wartime aggression, by visiting Tokyo's Yasukuni shrine that honors the country's war dead, including convicted war criminals.

Reuters reported the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper as saying that Koizumi plans to make a one-week visit to Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia in mid-September, to demonstrate the importance Tokyo places on its Asian neighbors.

IN-DEPTH The legacy of WWII: Asia's row over history     COUNTRY PROFILE At a glance: Japan Provided by CountryWatch.com    CNN.com Asia More news from our Asia edition

"We are still working on it," Tsutomu Himeno, a spokesman for the prime minister said. "But I think it will be along those lines."

As a result of the Asian tour, Koizumi will not be able to attend a U.N. General Assembly session on children to be held in New York, where he had hoped to meet with South Korean President Kim Dae-jung.

Domestic media had said that meeting would have been difficult given South Korea's anger over the Yasukuni visit, as well as Tokyo's approval of a junior high school textbook that critics say tries to justify Japan's wartime atrocities.

Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka will attend the U.N. convention instead, the Sankei Shimbun newspaper said.

Reuters reported government sources have said Koizumi is keen on visiting South Korea and China before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum to be held in Shanghai in October, and that he had instructed the Foreign Ministry to prepare the trips.

Koizumi visited Yasukuni shrine on August 13 after days of dithering over whether to honor his promise to visit it on the August 15 anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War Two -- a day that resonates with symbolism around Asia.