“I prayed for the peace of the souls of those who died for the country, as well as for health of bereaved families”, Takaichi, minister of internal affairs and communications, told reporters after the visit.
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Visits to the shrine by senior Japanese politicians, including occasionally prime ministers, drew angry reactions from China and South Korea, which see it as a symbol of Tokyo’s militaristic past.
Korea said it deplores that some Japanese Cabinet members and lawmakers went ahead to visit the Yasukuni shrine which beautifies Japan’s colonial past and atrocities.
“A responsible politician of Japan should squarely face history and demonstrate humble reflection and honest repentance for the past through action”.
Seiichi Eto, a lawmaker of the upper house of the Japanese Diet and a special adviser to Abe, visited the shrine on the same day.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the controversial Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo on Thursday and made a ritual offering. Abe’s offering at Yasukuni, where 14 leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal are honoured with war dead, treads a fine line between the demands of conservative allies that he visit the shrine in person and a desire to avoid the diplomatic furore that would result if he attended the festival.
Abe visited to the controversial site in December 2013 to mark his first year in office, drawing anger from Japan’s neighbors as well as the United States that said it was “disappointed” by the visit. He sent a cash offering last August, at the time of the 70th anniversary of Japan’s World War Two defeat, but did not visit.
The shrine has been a source of diplomatic friction for countries, including China and South Korea, which suffered from Japan’s aggression and colonialism early in the 20th century.
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Since then, Abe has refrained from visiting and offered masakaki for each spring and autumn festival at the shrine.
