how many years does a prime minister serve until a new one is elected?

ask ogumo

I was actually waiting for Ogumo to reply to this thread

while I in HK, That prime minister visited the Shrine for WW2 people!! again for like the 15th time... or whatever...

omg....

What is wrong with honoring your war deads?

I appologize. I kind of ignored this thread. Japan gets a new one every four years.

Made in China:

I don't support him going there simply because others like to make a big deal out of it and hurts japan in the end. However I don't condem the shrine either. Now the shrine holds over two million and a half people. Only 14 are war criminals. Koizumi has also stated before each visit that his intentions are not the "worship of war criminals".

alot of other HKers got irritated and somewhat angered when they saw this news in HK...

I can understand that emotional response. However I think they need to put it into perspective.

I think it's legal for Japanese to visit a shrine in their own territorial domain. It's more like a moral issue and/or their (un)willingness to have a better Sino-Japan relationship. As Mr. Masakazu said, at the end, it's their choice and they will be responsible for whatever outcome it might lead to.

Do you actually vote for a person, or do you vote for a party who picks a head to lead their party and become PM?

Vote for the party.

Well, if he was a civilian and visited the shrine then it'd be no problem since it's his personal business.

But when you visit a shrine where Class A war criminals are buried as the head of state (Prime Minister)...well that's when we have a problem.