The Prime Minister of Japan said today that he ought to keep a campaign pledge to visit a Tokyo war shrine on the anniversary of Japan’s surrender in Second World War - despite fierce opposition in Asia.

Junichiro Koizumi's statement to reporters was the strongest sign yet that he plans to defy critics in China and South Korea on August 15, and pray at the Yasukuni shrine, which includes executed war criminals among the 2.5 million war dead honoured there.

The shrine played a high-profile role in promoting wartime nationalism. Japanese soldiers commonly pledged to fight to the death with a promise to "meet at Yasukuni".

Mr Koizumi has visited Yasukuni five times since taking office in 2001, but never before on VJ Day - a vastly symbolic day as the end of the war in Asia. South Korea, for instance, marks the date as Liberation Day to celebrate Japan’s defeat.

Today Ban Ki-moon, South Korea’s foreign minister, said in Tokyo that the two countries need a more future-oriented approach to their relations if they are to overcome historical disputes that have left harsh obstacles to improving ties.

Tackled by reporters after attending a ceremony marking the 61st anniversary of the US dropping an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Mr Koizumi refused to say straight out whether he would make the visit.

When asked if he would honour his 2001 campaign pledge to pray at Yasukuni at least once on August 15 before he steps down as Prime Minister next month, he said however: "It’s still valid and I think that’s something I should keep.

"With any pledges, doesn’t everyone think that pledges are something you should keep?"

Meanwhile Mr Ban was meeting Shinzo Abe, the Chief Cabinet Secretary, who is the front runner to replace Mr Koizumi next month.

"It is preferable for South Korea and Japan to maintain forward-looking relations," Mr Ban told reporters. "It is regrettable that both countries are facing a harsh situation due to historical issues."

Mr Ban also urged Mr Abe to remember historical issues when fulfilling his official duties, a reference to Japanese politicians’ visits to Yasukuni Shrine and to an increasingly tense territorial dispute over several small islands.

Mr Abe later told reporters in a separate briefing that the war shrine issue was not specifically discussed during their meeting, though he acknowledged that Mr Ban had raised historical issues.

Mr Koizumi’s repeated visits to the shrine have angered China and South Korea, which were invaded and occupied by Japan in the first half of the last century. The shrine also hosts a museum which attempts to justify Japan’s militarist past.

Although Mr Koizumi says that he merely pays respects to fallen soldiers and prays for peace when he goes to Yasukuni, many in Japan oppose his visits, which have triggered a stream of lawsuits.

Public opinion is deeply split. A newspaper poll published today found that 48.6 per cent of respondents felt that Mr Koizumi should not visit the shrine again before he steps down, while 43.1 per cent felt that he should.

The poll by Japan’s national Yomiuri newspaper also showed that 50.3 per cent of respondents felt that whoever replaces Mr Koizumi should not visit Yasukuni, while 40.4 per cent supported the visits.

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