"It causes big reactions overseas and we are aware of changes in public opinion," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda, the spokesman for Koizumi's government, told a news conference.

Since taking office in 2001, Koizumi has gone every year to the Yasukuni shrine which honors 2.5 million Japanese war dead including 14 top war criminals. He had indicated he will go again this year.

But amid furious protests from China, an association of families of war dead said Saturday that while it appreciated visits to the Shinto sanctuary, "it is necessary to give consideration to neighboring countries and obtain their understanding."

Asked about the association's statement, Koizumi told reporters Monday: "I am always giving consideration" to viewpoints on the Yasukuni shrine.

According to Aera, a weekly published by the Asahi newspaper group, and the daily tabloid Nikkan Gendai, Koizumi got into a heated argument over his shrine visits when he recently had dinner with influential businesspeople.

When one business leader told him the Yasukuni visits were affecting business with China, Japan's largest trading partner, Koizumi angrily shouted back, "Merchants never understand politics," the reports said.

Koizumi's visits to the shrine have widely been seen domestically as a way to solidify support with the conservative base of his Liberal Democratic Party.

But a poll conducted last month by Kyodo News showed that 58 percent of Japanese opposed his visits, up from 41 percent in a similar poll in December.

China and the two Koreas, which suffered bloody occupations by Japan up to 1945, have accused Koizumi of condoning militarism by going to Yasukuni shrine. Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi last month abruptly cancelled a meeting with Koizumi to protest at Japanese statements on the issue.

Koizumi says he goes to the shrine to show respect for all war dead and stresses that Japan is firmly pacifist six decades after its World War II defeat.

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