TOKYO:  Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio made a ritual “masakaki” tree offering at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Sunday, when the war-related Shinto shrine’s three-day spring festival began.

During the festival, Kishida is unlikely to visit the shrine, which is regarded by neighboring countries as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism as it honors Class-A war criminals along with the war dead.

Among his cabinet ministers, economic revitalization minister SHINDO Yoshitaka visited the shrine on Sunday.

Since taking office in October 2021, Kishida has made masakaki offerings for the shrine’s spring and autumn festivals and “tamagushi” ritual offerings at the shrine on the Aug. 15 anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II.

JIJI Press