More than 40% of respondents support Sanae Takaichi, leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, visiting the war-related Yasukuni Shrine if she becomes prime minister, an opinion poll by Jiji Press showed.

In the poll conducted from Oct. 10 through Monday, 41.2% of respondents backed her worshipping at the Shinto shrine, which enshrines Class-A war criminals from World War II among the war dead, while those who opposed it accounted for 21.8%. Those who said they were unsure made up 37.1%.

Takaichi has repeatedly visited the shrine, including during her tenure as a Cabinet member. But she is expected to forgo a visit to the shrine during its autumn festival set for Friday through Sunday amid concerns within her party that it would hurt Japan's relations with China and South Korea.

The poll found that 49.3% of LDP supporters favored her worshipping at the shrine, while 17.9% were against it. Of supporters of the Conservative Party of Japan, 90.9% upheld such a visit, and none objected to it.

Among Sanseito supporters, 75% were in favor of her visiting the shrine and 7.1% were against it. Supporters of the Democratic Party for the People who backed such a visit accounted for 54.5%.

Of supporters of Komeito, a former LDP ally that last week left the coalition, 31.3% favored her visit, while 34.4% opposed it.