Abe Makes Ritual Offering to Yasukuni Shrine on War Anniv.

August 15, 2018

Tokyo- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a "tamagushi" ritual offering at his own expense to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Wednesday, marking the 73rd anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II.

Abe plans to skip an anniversary visit to the Shinto shrine, which honors Class-A war criminals along with the war dead, for the sixth straight year since his second administration was launched.

He apparently gave consideration to China and South Korea, which regard the shrine as a symbol of Japan's past militarism and strongly oppose a visit by the national leader.

Abe made the ritual offering under the name of the president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, through Masahiko Shibayama, special aide to the LDP leader, who visited the shrine on his behalf.

Shibayam told reporters that he has a message from Abe apologizing for his failure to pay a visit.

On Wednesday morning, Abe laid flowers at Tokyo's Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery for unidentified fallen troops.

Meanwhile, about 50 members of a suprapartisan lawmaker group led by Hidehisa Otsuji, former vice president of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of parliament, visited Yasukuni Shrine.

Earlier in the day, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Masahisa Sato, Seiich Eto, an aide to the prime minister, and Shinjiro Koizumi, chief deputy secretary-general of the LDP, also worshipped at the shrine.

Under the Abe administration, some cabinet ministers visited Yasukuni on the Aug. 15 war-end anniversary in 2013-2016. In 2017, however, no minister made such a visit. Jiji Press