(VOVworld) – On Thursday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent a ritual offering to the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo for the war dead.
A wooden sign (2nd R) which reads "Prime Minister Shinzo Abe" is seen on a ritual offering, a masakaki tree, from Abe to the Yasukuni Shrine, inside the main shrine at the controversial shrine for war dead in Tokyo, Japan, April 21, 2016. (Photo: Reuters/Issei Kato)
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The move was aimed to avoid a tense reaction from neighboring countries and the US ahead of Japan’s preparations for the Group of Seven (G7) leaders’ summit in May.
Abe's spring festival offering of a "masakaki" ceremonial tree at the Yasukuni shrine, which some see as a symbol of Japanese militarism in World War II as it honors convicted war criminals among other war dead, comes as Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida prepares to visit Beijing.