Tokyo: French nationalist Jean-Marie Le Pen and other European right-wing politicians paid a visit on Saturday to a Japanese shrine that has drawn outrage for honouring war criminals.
Le Pen, leader of the far-right French National Front and Adam Walker of the British National Party said they were making the visit, which comes a day ahead of the 65th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, to pay respect to those who died in war.
"What counts is the will that we had to honour those who have fallen for defending their country, whether they are Japanese, or any soldiers of the world, we have the same respect for them," Le Pen told reporters.
Anti-immigrant
Le Pen is known for his anti-immigrant and extremist views. He shocked France when he qualified for the second round of the 2002 presidential race, which Jacques Chirac won.
The visit to Yasukuni, an ornate Shinto shrine in downtown Tokyo, was arranged by the International Conference of Patriotic Organisations, which brought together right-wing parties from eight European countries with members of a Japanese ultranationalist group called the Issuikai.
Yasukuni honours Japan's war dead, including convicted war criminals. Pacifists and victims of Japanese aggression, such as China and the Koreas, say it glorifies Japan's past militarism.
The visit by Le Pen and others may also anger some former prisoners of war in those countries being represented by the right-wing groups.
Tens of thousands of British, Dutch and other European soldiers and civilians were captured by the Japanese Imperial Army as they swept across Europe's former Asian colonies at the beginning of the Second World War. Thousands were executed, tortured and starved to death in Japanese prisoner-of-war camps.
