Prime Minister Shinzo Abe does not plan to visit Yasukuni Shrine during its three-day annual spring festival that starts Thursday, according to government sources.

Abe is apparently seeking to avoid friction with China and South Korea, as well as the United States, especially in the run-up to Japan's hosting of the Group of Seven summit in May and a trilateral summit with Beijing and Seoul later this year, the sources said Tuesday.

A government source said that if Abe were to visit the controversial Shinto shrine, it "would put a damper on improved relations" with China and South Korea, which view Yasukuni as a symbol of Japan's past militarism as it honors convicted war criminals, along with millions of war dead.