Justice Minister Mitsuhide Iwaki on Saturday became the second Cabinet member to visit the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo during its latest festival season, although Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has refrained from visiting himself.
Iwaki followed Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Sanae Takaichi, who visited the controversial shrine on the second day of the three-day spring festival on Friday, as did a number of other lawmakers.
"Paying respects to those who sacrificed their lives for the country is a universal thing," Iwaki told reporters on his visit to the shrine. "How that is done depends on a country's tradition."
Iwaki made a similar visit to the shrine during its autumn festival last October. The shrine is viewed in other East Asian countries as a symbol of Japan's past militarism as it honors, along with millions of war dead, wartime Japanese leaders who were convicted as war criminals.
Abe has not visited the shrine in an apparent effort to avoid ruffling diplomatic feathers with China and South Korea, where bitter memories of Japanese aggression or colonization before and during World War II remain deep, as well as its ally, the United States.
Abe instead dedicated a masakaki tree offering to the shrine Thursday as he has done at past spring and autumn festivals.
Abe last visited the shrine in December 2013, one year after he returned as prime minister, sending Japan's relations with China and South Korea to their lowest point in many decades. The visit was also met by an expression of disappointment by the U.S. government.