TOKYO A diplomatic dispute over Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's planned visit to a Shinto shrine for war dead was giving the popular leader a domestic headache on Tuesday, as his cabinet bickered over the touchy topic.

Koizumi, fresh from his ruling coalition's election victory, seemed on Monday to soften his stance on the controversial trip to the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo, saying he would consult key coalition partners before making a final decision, Reuters reported.

He added, though, that he still wanted to make the visit.

Yasukuni is dedicated to Japan's 2.5 million war dead since the 19th century but also enshrines wartime military leaders convicted as war criminals for their roles in Japan's invasion of much of Asia in the 1930s and 1940s.

China and South Korea, victims of Japan's wartime aggression, have pushed Koizumi to give up on the planned visit. Koizumi's coalition allies in the Buddhist-backed new Komeito Party have also urged him not to go.

SUNHEAD= Cabinet Feuding

Chief cabinet secretary Yasuo Fukuda on Tuesday chastized outspoken Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka, who has urged Koizumi to call off the visit.

Tanaka has also said Koizumi should not try to skirt around the issue in a "sneaky" manner by saying the visit is a private trip rather than an official one.

"The prime minister is saying that he will pay homage as a matter of his personal feelings, and it is strange for an outsider to say this is something 'stealthy'," Fukuda told a news conference when asked about her remark.

Tanaka -- whose personal popularity has been a factor in the support for Koizumi despite her penchant for controversy -- shrugged off any suggestion she would resign if he did make the trip.

"Just because he does not accept (my request), I would never resign," Tanaka told a news conference.

Ties with Asian neighbors have also been strained by a dispute over Japan's approval of history textbooks that critics say whitewash its wartime atrocities, as well as trade spats.

SUBHEAD= Style Counts

Critics have charged that the diplomatic storm is evidence of foreign-policy incompetence. But to back off now might be perceived as weak-willed just when Koizumi is portraying himself as a leader who can forge ahead with bold reforms.

Koizumi has insisted that his desire to pay homage is simply out of respect for those who gave their lives for their country, and has stressed that Japan must never go to war again.

If he does visit the imposing Yasukuni shrine in the heart of Tokyo, he would be the first prime minister to do so in an official capacity since his mentor Yasuhiro Nakasone in 1985.

Then-prime minister Ryutaro Hashimoto went in 1996 -- technically as a private individual.

Labor Minister Chikara Sakaguchi, the sole cabinet member from the New Komeito, said on Monday he agreed with Tanaka that the visit should not take place.

But he added that if Koizumi was determined to go, the homage should take a form that did not violate the constitutional separation of religion and state, an apparent reference to avoiding Shinto religious customs including bowing and clapping hands together in prayer.

SUBHEAD= Popularity Key?

Koizumi is expected to meet key coalition partners soon to hear their views on the subject, but a spokesman for the prime minister was unable to say when the meeting would take place.

The hugely popular Koizumi may have public support ratings in mind as well as diplomacy when he makes his final decision.

The prime minister needs to maintain his popularity with voters to forge ahead with his painful reform agenda.

His support levels are off their peaks of around 90 percent seen right after he took office in late April, but still unprecedented at just under 70 percent.

A survey conducted for the LDP, however, showed that only about one in three people supported his plan to visit Yasukuni, and only about 12 percent did so "strongly."