Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi and Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato visited Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Friday, the 80th anniversary of the country's surrender in World War II.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba made a tamagushi ritual offering at the Shinto shrine in his capacity as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party while refraining from paying a visit. He paid for the offering through a representative.

The visits by Kato and Koizumi marked the sixth consecutive year a Cabinet minister visited the war-related shrine on the anniversary.