Two Cabinet ministers visited war-linked Yasukuni Shrine on Sunday, a day after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent an offering in lieu of a visit to its annual autumn festival to avoid offending Japan's regional neighbors.
Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Sanae Takaichi went before noon following a visit by Justice Minister Mitsuhide Iwaki, who became the first member of Abe's new Cabinet to visit the Shinto institution.
The shrine is a constant source of diplomatic friction with China and South Korea in light of its role as the spiritual backbone of the Imperial Japanese war effort. Official visits are often perceived as attempts to glorify the war.