Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent a ritual offering to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Thursday, the 74th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, but refrained from visiting the Shinto shrine on the day for the seventh year in a row.
The shrine, which is dedicated to Japan's war dead, is seen by China and South Korea as a symbol of the country's past militarism.
The prime minister's last visit to the shrine, in December 2013, raised the ire of Japan's Asian neighbors and disappointed its key ally the United States.