TOKYO: A Japanese cabinet minister visited a controversial war shrine in Tokyo yesterday, in a move that sparked rebukes from South Korea and China, both of whom view it as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism.
Television footage showed Yoshitaka Shindo, minister for internal affairs and communications, paying homage last morning at the Yasukuni shrine.
The shrine honours Japan’s war dead including several high-level officials executed for war crimes after World War II.
Shindo, a regular visitor to Yasukuni, insisted that it was a “private matter”, playing down the potential diplomatic fallout. “Offering condolences to the war dead can be seen in any country,” Shindo was quoted by news agency Jiji as saying.
AFP
