April 10 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi ruled out a suggestion that war criminals be separated from the rest of the dead memorialized at a Tokyo shrine.

Ichiro Ozawa, the head of Japan's biggest opposition party, yesterday said it would be easier for the prime minister and emperor to go to Yasukuni Shrine if 14 Class A war criminals weren't enshrined there. Koizumi's visits to the shrine have prompted outrage from China and South Korea, who view Yasukuni as a symbol of Japan's military occupation of Asia 60 years ago.

``This is not for the government to say,'' Koizumi told reporters today at his office in Tokyo. ``I don't know whether he said this because China has criticized the Yasukuni visits or because he is against offering condolences to the war dead.''

The 14 men enshrined in Yasukuni were responsible for leading Japan into World War II, Ozawa said on NHK's `Sunday Debate,' Kyodo News reported. Ozawa was elected president of the Democratic Party of Japan on April 7.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe also criticized Ozawa's suggestion.

``This is a decision by Yasukuni Shrine based on the freedom of religion guaranteed in the constitution and is not for the government to intervene,'' Abe said at a regular news conference.

China and South Korea canceled planned summits after the most recent of Koizumi's five visits as prime minister to the central Tokyo shrine, where more than 2 million dead are commemorated.

To contact the reporter on this story: Keiichi Yamamura in Tokyo at kyamamura@bloomberg.net John Brinsley in Tokyo at jbrinsley@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 10, 2006 03:51 EDT