Prime Minister Nakasone was one of the first to declare publicly that he would visit the Shrine in his official capacity. This was a very important and controversial statement. Few people in Japan would say that it is wrong for a Prime Minister to visit the Shrine for his own personal beliefs. Most people beleive that the Prime Minister, just like everybody else, has a constitutional right to practice his own religious beliefs. But when Nakasone said his visit would be in his official capacity it cause uproar among those who oppose Yasukuni. Previously, Nakasone had visited the Shrine but the visit was in a personal capacity. In defending his choice to visit the Shrine officially he said "his visit was to honor the war dead and renew the desire of Japan for peace." Opponents of the Shrine did not buy Nakasone's argument. They claimed that an official visit by the Prime Minister was a clear-cut violation of Article Twenty of the Constitution that requires serparation of religion and the State. Adding to the controversy of Nakasone's visit was the fact that he visited on August 15th, the anniversary of Japan's surrender. This brought out the anti-militarists in Japan who claimed that Nakasone's visit was an attempt to revert Japan back to its old oppressive and imperialistic ways. The opposition was so great after Nakasone's visit that it would be eleven years before another Prime Minister visited Yasukuni in his official capacity.
When Prime Minister Hashimoto Ryutaro visited the Shrine in 1996 it was on his birthday. There was, of course, uproar by opponents of the Shrine but they were kept to a minimum because Hashimoto did not visit the Shrine on August 15th, so anti-militarists kept relatively quiet. The next, and most recent Prime Minister to visit Yasukuni Shrine was Prime Minister Koizumi. His visit on August 13, 2001 has caused a great upsurge in anti-Yasukuni protests and rekindled teh controversy over the legality and morality of the Shrine.
When Prime Minister Koizumi was elected, he made a promise that he would visit Yasukuni in his official capacity on August 15th. The opposition that Koizumi faced after making his promise was more than he had anticipated. Amidst protest from China and Korea, Koizumi decided it would cause lesss discontent if he visited the Shrine on August 13th, instead of on the anniversary. In order to further quell any potential problems, Koizumi stayed at the Shrine only thirty-three minutes and bowed only once, Shinto tradition requires two bows. Koizumi's plan backfired as opponents of the Shrine still protested, and his supporters felt he had sold out to foreign opposition by not visiting on the anniversary. Defending his visit, Koizumi said "Even if I visit Yasukuni Shrine, the Principles of Japan as a country of peace do not change at all." This has been the argument made by many Yasukuni supporters, saying that visiting the Shrine is not a sign of imperial notions, it is simply a way to honor the dead and a symbol of national unity.