Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Yoshitaka Shindo paid his latest visit to war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Saturday, but described it as "a private matter."
The visit immediately draw protests from China, South Korea and Taiwan later in the day.
"I did it as a private matter which I am free to decide," Shindo said in an interview after the trip, which was contentious because other Asian nations, especially China and South Korea, view the shrine as a symbol of Japan's past militarism because it honors Class-A war criminals.