Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi dropped new hints Thursday that he may visit a shrine critics say glorifies militarism on the anniversary of Japan's World War II surrender.

Speculation is building that Koizumi, despite sharp international criticism, will make a pilgrimage to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine on Aug. 15, a sensitive date marking the end of World War II in Asia.

Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi waves as he boards a plane to leave for Mongolia at Haneda International airport in Tokyo, Thursday, Aug 10, 2006. [AP]

Such a visit would likely be Koizumi's last as prime minister before he steps down next month. It would likely worsen already strained relations with Asian neighbors such as China and South Korea, which were invaded and occupied by Japan in the first half of the 20th century.

The Shinto shrine played a high-profile role in promoting wartime nationalism in Japan. Japanese soldiers commonly pledged to fight to the death with a promise to "meet at Yasukuni."

Koizumi has visited the shrine five times since taking office in 2001, but never on the World War II anniversary.

The prime minister has yet to say straight out whether he will make an Aug. 15 pilgrimage, but his remarks in the past two days have fueled speculation.

"It's only natural for the prime minister of Japan to visit and offer his condolences for the war dead," Koizumi said before leaving for a visit to Mongolia. "I'm criticized anytime I go, regardless of whether it's Aug. 15."

Asked Wednesday if he would honor his 2001 campaign pledge to pray at Yasukuni at least once on Aug. 15, Koizumi said: "It's still valid, and I think that's something I should keep."

Koizumi's repeated visits to the shrine, which hosts a museum that attempts to justify Japan's militarist past, have angered China and South Korea.

Koizumi spokesman Yu Kameoka said the leader "feels that it is important to visit Yasukuni Shrine to express his feeling that Japan would never start a war again and to offer condolences for those who died for the country."

But many in Japan oppose his visits, which have triggered a stream of lawsuits, and public opinion is deeply split.

A newspaper poll published Wednesday found 48 percent of respondents felt Koizumi should not visit the shrine again before he steps down, while 43 percent felt he should.

The poll by Japan's national Yomiuri newspaper also showed that half of all respondents felt that whoever replaces Koizumi should not visit Yasukuni, while 40 percent supported the visits.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, considered the front-runner to succeed Koizumi, has supported his visits and reportedly went to the shrine secretly earlier this year. He has refused to confirm those reports or say whether he would go again as prime minister.