In his opening broadside as the new head of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, Ichiro Ozawa yesterday attacked prime minister Junichiro Koizumi’s visits to a shrine where the country’s second world war criminals are honoured.

Mr Ozawa, a former strongman of the ruling Liberal Democratic party, said the Yasukuni shrine in central Tokyo should be returned to a place honouring only the spirits of those who died in the war, a move that would allow politicians to visit the site “with dignity”.