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Some Japanese opposition parties have urged Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to materialize his latest pledge to improve ties with Asian countries.

President of the Democratic Party of Japan Katsuya Okada said Koizumi could not win the trust of Japan's neighbors merely by quoting a former leader's remark that recognizes Japan's wartime past.

Meanwhile, Secretary General of the Social Democratic Party Seiji Mataichi urged the Prime Minister to stop visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, where Japanese war dead are honored, as a fence-mending gesture to Japan's neighbors.

Earlier, Junichiro Koizumi expressed deep remorse and a heartfelt apology for Japan's acts of aggression during World War II at the Asia-Africa summit in Jakarta.