TOKYO — More than 100 lawmakers from ruling and opposition parties visited the war-related Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Tuesday for its annual fall festival, just a day after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi paid a visit that sparked strong protests from China and South Korea.

The 101 lawmakers included ruling Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe and 92 others from the LDP, three from the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan and members of other parties, but no cabinet members. Last year, 79 lawmakers of the nonpartisan group visited the Shinto shrine for the event.

"I renewed the pledge that Japan will not wage war again and that I will continue to preserve peace," Takebe said after the visit. "It is natural for a Japanese" to visit shrines and temples, he added.

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