A record 168 Diet members visited Tokyo's war-linked Yasukuni Shrine on Tuesday following visits by three Cabinet ministers and offerings by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday.
The group of lawmakers from various parties — the largest number since 1989, when head counts first began — visited the controversial Shinto shrine on the last day of its annual three-day spring festival despite warnings from China and South Korea.
Seoul has already canceled a trip to Japan by its foreign minister in protest of the Cabinet members' visits.