Chronology of Yasukuni Shrine

A chronology of Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan's 2.5 million war dead, including executed war criminals:

* June 1869: Tokyo Shokonsha shrine established to commemorate Japanese civil war dead.
* June 1879: Name changed to Yasukuni. Shrine now to commemorate all Japanese war dead.
* Aug. 15, 1945: Japan agrees to surrender unconditionally to Allied forces, ending World War II.
* Aug. 15, 1975: Prime Minister Takeo Miki becomes first premier to visit Yasukuni on anniversary of the end of World War II.
* Oct. 17, 1978: Yasukuni begins honoring wartime Prime Minister Gen. Hideki Tojo and 13 other Class-A war criminals.
* Aug. 15, 1985: Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone makes official visit to Yasukuni.
* July 29, 1996: Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto visits Yasukuni, first premier to do so in 11 years.
* April 18, 2001: Junichiro Koizumi, running for the presidency of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, pledges he will visit Yasukuni on Aug. 15 as premier.
* Aug. 13, 2001: Prime Minister Koizumi visits Yasukuni, becoming the first premier to visit in five years. Koizumi will visit the shrine annually five more times.
* April 15, 2006: Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, first in line to replace Koizumi, reportedly visits Yasukuni.
* Aug. 15, 2006: Koizumi pays his sixth visit to Yasukuni, his first on Aug. 15. (AP)