Japanese Defense Minister Visits Yasukuni Shrine

Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi visited a war memorial on Saturday that Japan's Asian neighbors view as a symbol of wartime aggression, as Japan marked the 81st anniversary of its surrender in World War II.

Koizumi, the son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, wore a dark suit and tie during his visit to the Yasukuni Shrine, according to footage from local media. He has visited the shrine in the past, including as minister of agriculture last year. According to public broadcaster NHK, Minister for Economic Security Kimi Onoda also visited the shrine on Saturday.

China and South Korea have criticized previous visits by high-ranking Japanese officials, arguing that they whitewash Tokyo's wartime actions and damage diplomatic relations.

Among the 2.5 million war dead commemorated at the Tokyo shrine are 14 wartime leaders convicted of the most serious war crimes, along with more than 1,000 others whom Allied tribunals found guilty after Japan's defeat in 1945. Japanese officials have explained past visits as personal efforts to honor those who died in the country's wars.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who took office last October, sent an offering to the shrine, as several of her predecessors had done. However, according to AFP, she did not personally attend the memorial service.

(Reuters, AFP, TASR)