Yasukuni Shrine : Abe sends ritual offering, 2 Cabinet ministers visit war-linked shrine

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent a ritual offering on Monday to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo while two Cabinet ministers visited there on the 71st anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, immediately drawing criticism from South Korea, one of the Asian neighbors that suffered from Japanese wartime aggression.
The premier refrained from visiting the Shinto shrine during the day in a bid to limit damage to Japan's ties with South Korea and China, another nation that suffered from Japanese wartime brutality, as he hopes to hold summit talks with China next month amid bilateral tensions over maritime issues.

Japan's two neighbors view Yasukuni as a symbol of Japan's past militarism, saying that lawmakers who visit the shrine are glossing over wartime history.

The shrine honors convicted war criminals, including Prime Minister Gen. Hideki Tojo, along with Japan's war dead.
 == Kyodo
15/8/16