Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi today made a pilgrimage to a Tokyo war shrine reviled by critics as a symbol of militarism, triggering a further erosion in Japan’s ties with its neighbours just a month before he leaves office.

Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi today announced the withdrawal of 600 ground troops from southern Iraq, saying they had accomplished their humanitarian mission.

Hundreds of Japanese troops got a ceremonial send-off today before leaving for Iraq on a humanitarian mission that will be the largest and most dangerous deployment by Japan’s military since World War II.

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori has been berated for finishing a round of golf after hearing about the submarine accident off Hawaii that left nine Japanese people missing.