Fresh from his landslide election victory last month Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi has once again visited the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo which commemorates 2.5 million war dead and contains the graves of 14 convicted class "A" war criminals.
The fifth visit since he came to office in 2001, it has once again infuriated neighbouring China, South Korea and Hong Kong leaders who say it shows Mr Koizumi does not fully recognise and regret Japan's war crimes.
Their protests were expected, but will upset relations between these Asian powers at a time when they are all facing a very difficult period of adjustment to change in the region. There was little immediate acknowledgment of the significant, if minor, changes in the protocol of this visit compared to his previous ones. He says they reinforce the message that this was a personal and not an official visit to the shrine. And he has repeatedly expressed remorse and regret for Japan's war crimes in terms that go beyond what has been said by his predecessors.
Nevertheless he is likely to go there again next August on a much more auspicious occasion, the 60th anniversary of the end of the Pacific War. Also attending Monday's ceremony at the shrine were 200 deputies from his party, underlining that the prime minister is under political pressure from a more assertive nationalist faction to honour the country's war dead. His critics in the region are aware, too, that this is a highly controversial issue in Japan as well. A court in Osaka has ruled the visits illegal, violating the separation of state and religion, which Mr Koizumi said was a "strange" judgment. But it reflects divisions in the country about rearmament and alliances. Mr Koizumi intends to change long-standing policies in this area now that he has such a strong mandate, just as he has moved rapidly to privatise Japan's huge post office system, which was his main platform during the election campaign.
Notwithstanding regional tension on the Yasukuni visits there is no sign it has had any impact on their economic relations. China is Japan's second-largest export destination after the United States and Japan's recent strong economic recovery is based on this booming trade and investment relationship. Mr Koizumi authorised a Japanese decision to start gas drilling in the East China Sea last April, a few days after violent protests were held in China over a new batch of Japanese school textbooks denying or glossing over imperial atrocities. A competitive scramble for oil and gas resources in such a climate of distrust and resurgent nationalism bodes ill for the East Asian region if it is not contained.