On August 4, 2006 (July 11, 2006 in the lunar calendar), Japanese religious groups demanded that Koizumi stop visiting the Yasukuni Shrine. File photo On January 1, 2004, Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi entered the Yasukuni Shrine to pay homage. On August 4, 2006, the All Japan Buddhist Association of Japan submitted a petition to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the Prime Minister's official residence, demanding that Koizumi and cabinet ministers stop official visits to the Yasukuni Shrine. The petition pointed out that the official visit of Japan's Prime Minister and cabinet ministers to the Yasukuni Shrine, a religious group, violated the principles of "freedom of religious belief" and "separation of church and state" stipulated in the Japanese Constitution. The All Japan Buddhist Society is a national religious organization in Japan, with members including 90% of monasteries across Japan. Since Koizumi took office as Japanese Prime Minister in 2001, he has visited the Yasukuni Shrine, which houses the tablets of Class-A war criminals, five consecutive times, greatly hurting the feelings of the people of Asian countries who had been trampled on by Japanese militarism. Comment: I hope we all keep our history in mind