Dozens of lawmakers from across party lines visited Yasukuni Shrine on Tuesday during its annual autumn festival.
No one from Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's Cabinet took part in the visit by 54 Diet members, who were headed by Hidehisa Otsuji, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party caucus in the Upper House.
Past visits by the nation's leaders to the Shinto shrine, which honors convicted war criminals among Japan's war dead, have been harshly criticized by China and South Korea.
The visitors from the LDP included Lower House Vice Speaker Seishiro Eto, Ryotaro Tanose, chairman of the party's General Council, and former LDP Secretary General Makoto Koga. Party leader Sadakazu Tanigaki visited the shrine Monday.