The possibility has emerged that, before yearend, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which enshrines not only Japan's 2.46 million war dead but also Class-A war criminals from World War II. A visit to the shrine would signal his ignorance of the ideological role that Yasukuni Shrine played in Japan's wars of aggression during the 1930s and '40s. It also would show an utter lack of sensitivity to the feelings of victim countries in Asia and would further harm relations, which are already strained, with China and South Korea.

At this year's regular spring and autumn festivals at the shrine, Mr. Abe made an offering of a masakaki tree branch — used in some Shinto rituals — after purchasing it with personal funds. He refrained from visiting the shrine itself.

On Aug. 15, the anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, Mr. Abe made a cash offering to the shrine, using personal funds, as head of the Liberal Democratic Party, apparently to avoid friction with China and South Korea, which vehemently oppose ministerial visits to Yasukuni Shrine. But during his visit to Minami Soma, Fukushima Prefecture on Oct. 19, Mr. Abe said he greatly regretted not visiting the shrine during his first stint as prime minister in 2006-2007, adding he would still like to express his adoration and respect for those who fought and died for Japan and to pray for the repose of their souls at the shrine.