Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and two other Cabinet ministers, all members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, visited Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Thursday, the 79th anniversary of the country's surrender in World War II.
Kihara became the first sitting defense minister confirmed to have paid a visit to the war-related Shinto shrine since Nobuo Kishi on Aug. 13, 2021.
The shrine is regarded as a symbol of Japan's wartime militarism by neighboring countries such as China and South Korea as it honors Class-A World War II criminals along with the war dead.
Kihara told reporters that he visited the shrine privately and made a tamagushi ritual offering at his own expense.
"I offered my sincere condolences to those who sacrificed their precious lives," Kihara said. Asked about the potential impact on Japan-South Korea ties, he said, "I will continue to strengthen our relations."
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made a tamagushi offering at the shrine at his own expense in his capacity as LDP president. He is expected to refrain from visiting the shrine.
The other two ministers who visited the shrine were economic revitalization minister Yoshitaka Shindo and economic security minister Sanae Takaichi.
Shindo told reporters that his visit was made privately. Takaichi said she signed a visitors' book as a cabinet minister and paid for her tamagushi offering out of her own pocket.
A suprapartisan group of about 80 lawmakers, including the LDP's Ichiro Aisawa, visited the shrine. "The peace and prosperity of Japan are based on the sacrifice of the war dead. We visited the shrine quietly," Aisawa told a news conference.