Etsuro Honda, a key economic adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, denied Thursday stressing that one of the main goals of ¡°Abenomics¡± is for Japan to build up a more powerful military and stand up to China, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga quoted Honda during a daily news conference as denying the report published Tuesday on the financial newspaper¡¯s website.

Suga quoted Honda as saying: ¡°I was surprised to read the article. It¡¯s true I was interviewed, but what I meant to say was erroneously reported. I never made a remark to the effect that a goal of Abenomics was military in nature.¡±

The WSJ interview story states: ¡°Beyond the imperative to raise wages and improve livelihoods, Mr. Honda says Japan needs a strong economy so that it can build a more powerful military and stand up to China. ¡®We feel a serious threat,¡¯ he says.¡±

Asked by The Japan Times about Honda¡¯s denial, a Dow Jones spokeswoman said by e-mail: ¡®¡¯We stand by our story. Given it contains no errors, we see no reason to correct it and have made no commitment to do so.¡¯¡¯

Honda was also quoted by the paper as defending Abe¡¯s contentious visit in December to war-related Yasukuni Shrine: ¡°As long as a top Japanese leader refrains from visiting Yasukuni, Japan¡¯s position in international society is very inferior. We don¡¯t want to see a handicapped Japan, we want to see Japan as a stand-alone country.¡±

According to Kyodo News, Honda told reporters Thursday that he just argued that ¡°(Japan) needs to (strengthen) basic economic power to maintain the power balance in East Asia,¡± and he didn¡¯t argue that Japan needs to build up a powerful military to stand up to China.

The WSJ story also described Honda as ¡°an ardent nationalist who gets emotional about his country¡¯s wartime past.¡±

¡°Tears well up in Mr. Honda¡¯s eyes during an interview as he talks about the ¡®sacrifices¡¯ made by kamikaze pilots during the final stages of World War II,¡± the story states.

Honda is considered one of the key economic advisors who helped Abe come up with Abenomics, a combination of super-aggressive money-easing measures, more fiscal spending and measures to promote economic growth through various deregulation measures and subsidies.

The Japan Times tried unsuccessfully to reach Honda.