SYMBOL OF MILITARISTIC PAST: Yasukuni Shrine honours Japan's 2.5 million war dead, including executed wartime leaders who had been convicted as Class-A war criminals. -- PHOTO: AP

Every year, dozens of lawmakers pray at Yasukuni Shrine during its spring and autumn festivals and on the Aug 15 anniversary of the end of the war.

But Kyodo news agency said none was planning to go next Wednesday.

Mr Abe, under pressure from a powerful lobby supporting the controversial shrine, has refused to publicly state his intentions.

Yasukuni honours Japan's 2.5 million war dead, including executed wartime leaders who had been convicted as Class-A war criminals. It is vilified by critics at home and abroad as a symbol of the country's militaristic past.

Financial Services Minister Yuji Yamamoto told reporters yesterday that an official visit to the shrine would be 'harmful' to Japan's relations with Asia.

Education Minister Bunmei Ibuki said he will not go to be fair as a minister supervising religious establishments, and Transport Minister Tetsuzo Fuyushiba, a Buddhist, cited religious reasons.

Japan's top government spokesman said he will not visit the shrine either. 'I'm not planning to go,' Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki told reporters. 'That's my principle.'

The shrine was run by the navy before and during the war.

The decision to stay away apparently reflects consideration of Japan's fragile ties with its Asian neighbours.

Repeated visits to Yasukuni by Mr Abe's predecessor, Mr Junichiro Koizumi, including his last on Aug 15 last year, had angered China and South Korea.

The two countries have since pressed Mr Abe to refrain from visiting the shrine to demonstrate Japan's remorse for its wartime invasions.

Mr Abe, an ardent nationalist, regularly prayed at Yasukuni in the past - but apparently had not done so since taking office last September.

Instead, he has sent offerings to the shrine, triggering concerns from Beijing and Seoul despite his fence-mending visits to both countries last October.

On another front, the beleaguered leader continued to reject calls for a party leadership election despite growing pressure over his refusal to step down after a string of scandals.

Mr Abe refused to quit after his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lost control of the Upper House of parliament for the first time ever in an election two weeks ago.

'It is natural that you hear a variety of opinions, including severe ones, from party members,' he told reporters on Thursday.

Asked if he intends to hold a party election, he said: 'No, I don't.'

The LDP has ruled Japan virtually non-stop for half a century, and when Mr Abe was picked as party leader last year, he automatically became Prime Minister last September.

ASSOCIATED PRESS