Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday sent a ritual offering to Yasukuni Shrine, a Shinto site that has been at the heart of diplomatic frictions with China and South Korea, which regard it as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.
The masakaki offering on the occasion of the Tokyo shrine's spring festival from Thursday comes as Kishida, seen as a liberal-leaning politician in the conservative ruling Liberal Democratic Party, is expected to refrain from paying a visit, a source familiar with the matter said.
Sanae Takaichi, policy chief of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, visited the shrine. The hard-line conservative often visited the shrine when she was a Cabinet minister.