Prime Minister Shinzo Abe refrains from even sending an offering, as he tries to improve ties with China and South Korea
Dozens of Japanese lawmakers on Tuesday made a pilgrimage to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which both China and South Korea consider a symbol of Tokyo’s militaristic past.
A shrine official said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe refrained from sending an offering, as he has done in the past, and no ministers were among the group, according to a parliamentary source.
In total, 61 MPs mainly from Abe’s conservative Liberal Democratic Party attended the war shrine and 76 sent a representative, he said.
The shrine honours millions of Japanese war dead, but also senior military and political figures convicted of war crimes after the second world war.
Beijing and Seoul view it as a symbol of Tokyo’s past aggression. The site has for decades been a flashpoint for criticism by countries that suffered from Japan’s colonialism and aggression in the first half of the 20th century.
In October, Abe sent a ritual offering to the shrine but did not visit, a move seen as an effort to minimise protests from neighbours over the issue.
