A cross-party group of Japanese lawmakers on Tuesday visited Yasukuni Shrine, regarded as a symbol of Japan's past militarism by its Asian neighbors, for the first time in more than two years.
The group of 99 politicians, headed by Hidehisa Otsuji of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, visited the Tokyo shrine in the morning to pay respects to the country's war dead. Otsuji is a former vice president of the House of Councilors.
The group aims to visit three times a year for the shrine's spring and fall festivals and the anniversary of the end of World War II, but its members had not visited together since the fall of 2019 due to the coronavirus pandemic and this October's general election.