Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent a ritual offering Tuesday to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine, which has been a source of friction with Japan's neighbors that suffered from its wartime militarism, at the start of its autumn festival.
But Abe is likely to refrain from visiting the Shinto shrine in Tokyo during its four-day festival, apparently out of consideration for relations with China and South Korea at a time when Tokyo needs to cooperate with them in countering the growing nuclear and missile threats from North Korea.
Abe made the "masakaki" tree offering under the name of the prime minister, the shrine said. The tree is traditionally used in rituals celebrated by Japan's Shinto religion.
His move is seen as an appeal to his conservative supporters.
The prime minister, who heads the Liberal Democratic Party, left Tokyo in the morning for the northeastern Japan prefectures of Akita and Yamagata to deliver stump speeches ahead of the House of Representatives election on Sunday.
Among his Cabinet members and senior lawmakers, Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Katsunobu Kato, House of Councillors President Chuichi Date and Toshiei Mizuochi, senior vice education minister who heads the Japan War-Bereaved Families Association, also made ritual offerings.
The Shinto shrine is viewed by Japan's neighbors as a symbol of its past militarism, as it honors convicted World War II criminals along with the war dead.
Abe has regularly sent ritual offerings to Yasukuni during its spring and autumn festivals in April and October, both of which are regarded as the most important events for the shrine.
He last visited the shrine in December 2013, triggering fierce protests from China and South Korea, and prompting the United States, Japan's main ally, to express disappointment.
The prime minister has also made ritual donations to the shrine for five years in a row since 2013 on Aug. 15, the anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II.
