List of Issues:

1. Public Disbursement for Shrines
   
   

   Following the Supreme Court ruling of April 2, 1997, has there been an investigation into whether or not the national government or any local government organizations have paid public funds to Yasukuni Shrine or the Gokoku shrines in the name of sponsoring a religious ceremony? If there has been an investigation, the results should be made public. If, in fact, payments were made, does that not violate Article 18 of the Covenant? (The ceremony referred to consists of Shinto priests making an offering of a sprig from a sakaki tree, an evergreen that is considered by Shinto to be sacred; the ceremony is performed to honor the spirits of the enshrined war dead.)
   
   

2. Practice after a Supreme Court Ruling
   
   

   Did any Prime Ministers, Ministers, or members of the Diet visit Yasukuni Shrine after the Supreme Court ruling of April 2, 1997? If there were such visits by people holding public office, what does it signify in relation to Article 18 of the Covenant?

Background:

It is an undeniable historical fact that the state Shinto regime, the chief symbol of which is Yasukuni Shrine, was one of the driving forces that plunged Japan into the tragedy of World War II. That same state Shinto regime was also responsible for cruely suppressing other religions while it trampling upon the citizens' right to freedom of religion. This is illustrated by the many cases of oppression that took place between 1921 and 1943.

On April 2, 1997 the Grand Bench of the Supreme Court affirmed by an overwhelming majority of 13 to 2 that it was against the Constitution for Ehime Prefecture to have paid public funds to Yasukuni Shrine in the name of sponsoring a religious ceremony.

The majority opinion of this judgement raises the following as one of the reasons that Ehime Prefecture's actions violated the Constitution: "If local public bodies have special relationships with a particular religious group, it gives the people the impression that the prefecture supports that specific religious group, and that the specific group is different from others, and it also may arouse the people's interest in that specific religion."

By the time that this judgment was handed down, according to newspaper reports, there were no more expenditures for such religious ceremonies on the prefectural level, but it is not clear whether or not the government has conducted a survey in this regard. If there were payments made on a pretext to pay for a religious ceremony, such expenditures might be in violation of Article 18 of the Covenant.

On April 22, 1975, Prime Minister Miki became the first post-war prime minister to visit Yasukuni; after that, Prime Ministers Fukuda, Ohhira, Suzuki and Nakasone followed. On August 15, 1985, Prime Minister Nakasone made an official visit t o the shrine in his capacity as Prime Minister, and his actions were criticised abroad. At that time, many cabinet ministers accompanied the Prime Minister on his official visit to Yasukuni. Furthermore on March 18, 1981, a visit to Yasukuni was organized by a group of members of parliament calling itself "The Group of Diet Members Who Worship Together At Yasukuni Shrine," and since that time almost 200 members of the Diet go as a group to visit the shrine on an annual basis.

Such visits to Yasukuni Shrine by prime ministers, ministers and members of the Diet give the people the impression that the State supports Yasukuni Shrine, and that it differs from other religious institutions. Furthermore, such visits may also raise the interest of people in a specific religion. Such activities might violate Article 18 of the Covenant.