Tokyo: A minister in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe`s cabinet visited the Yasukuni war shrine on Thursday in a move that risks angering China and South Korea.
A shrine official said National Public Safety Commission chief Eriko Yamatani paid homage at the site early Thursday, just a day after nationalist premier Abe met Chinese President Xi Jinping in a sign of easing tensions.
"I offered my sincere appreciation for the people who fought and sacrificed their precious lives for the sake of the country," Jiji Press quoted Yamatani as saying after her pilgrimage.
"I pledged efforts for building a peaceful country," said the minister, known for her strident nationalistic views.
More than 100 Japanese lawmakers visited the site on Wednesday, just as Japan was arranging the meeting between Xi and Abe on the sidelines of an Asia-Africa conference in Indonesia.
The two leaders met for about 30 minutes, seeking to fix a relationship damaged by territorial disputes and lingering bitterness over World War II.
