Prime Minister Taro Aso made an offering to Yasukuni Shrine for its spring festival that began Tuesday — a week before his two-day trip to China, a source close to him said.
Aso made the offering "to pay his respects to those who lost their lives fighting for the country and to pray for their souls," the source said.
The gift of the "masakaki" — a decorative display topped with branches from a "sakaki" tree, an evergreen considered sacred in Shinto — was made under the name "prime minister" and paid for by Aso himself, the source said Tuesday.