The Yasukuni shrine honors 2.5 million war dead, including 14 top war criminals from World War II.

China has refused summits with Koizumi over the visits, a policy also adopted last year by South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun.

China's People's Daily on Friday said Koizumi should leave a positive legacy before he steps down next month by ending his visits to the shrine.

"By ending visits, Koizumi will ultimately set up for himself an image of a politician who is wise and can act with courage and courageously change," a commentary in the paper said.

"Otherwise, he could be forever spurned by Asian people, and be firmly nailed to the pole of historical shame."

Ending his visits could also smooth the way for improved relations between Japan and its neighbors under Koizumi's successor, the commentary said.

However, Shinzo Abe, the front-runner to succeed Koizumi, appears to support Koizumi's position.

Abe, the chief cabinet secretary, visited the shrine last year on August 15.

He has refused to say whether he would go as premier or to confirm reports he made a secret pilgrimage in April, but in an interview published Thursday defended shrine visits.

"I cannot possibly think that prime ministers' visits to the shrine would support or glorify the purpose of the war 60 years ago," Abe told the monthly magazine Bungeishunju.

The Chinese government says 20 million Chinese were killed and 15 million injured during the 1937-45 war with Japan.

Many Chinese were forced into slave labor and 200,000 Chinese women were forced to provide sex to Japanese soldiers, according to China.