Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday sent a ritual offering to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, seen by some of Japan's Asian neighbors as a symbol of the country's past militarism, on the occasion of its fall festival.
Kishida sent the masakaki offering on the first day of the biannual rite, but the dovish moderate is likely to refrain from an in-person visit during the three-day event as he has done since taking office in October 2021, people close to him said.
Yoshitaka Shindo, minister in charge of economic revitalization, and economic security minister Sanae Takaichi, known for her hawkish views on foreign affairs, visited the shrine Tuesday morning.