Industry minister Yasutoshi Nishimura on Saturday visited Tokyo's controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which is seen by China and South Korea as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.
The Shinto shrine honors convicted war criminals alongside more than 2.4 million war dead.
The visit by Nishimura, who was appointed Wednesday as the economy, trade and industry minister in Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's new Cabinet, came ahead of the 77th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II on Monday.