TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday sent a ritual offering to Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine for war dead, a move likely to draw criticism from Asian neighbours such as South Korea, where a new president takes office next month.
Kishida, who also sent an offering in October at the time of a festival at the shrine, has followed the example of previous Japanese leaders by refraining from visiting in person during spring and autumn festivals to avoid angering China and South Korea.
The shrine, in Tokyo, is seen by Beijing and Seoul as a symbol of Japan’s past military aggression because it includes 14 Japanese wartime leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal among the 2.5 million war dead honoured there, and past offerings have provoked angry responses.
Kishida, who is viewed as more liberal among lawmakers in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, has expressed the hope of improving ties with South Korea under President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, who takes office on May 10.
(Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
