Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has no plans to visit Yasukuni Shrine during the war-related Tokyo shrine's spring festival next week, people close to him said Friday.
Instead, Ishiba plans to make a ritual "masakaki" tree offering to the Shinto shrine as he did during its autumn festival in October.
The spring festival is scheduled for Monday through Wednesday.
The shrine is regarded by neighboring countries as a symbol of Japan's past militarism because it honors Class-A World War II criminals along with other war dead.
No cabinet ministers were confirmed to have visited the shrine during the autumn festival.
Transport minister Hiromasa Nakano and Junko Mihara, minister for child policy, separately said Friday that they will not visit the shrine during the spring event.
No sitting prime minister has paid a visit to the shrine since December 2013, when Shinzo Abe did so.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.