TaiShang
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3rd Japanese minister, lawmakers visit Yasukuni shrine
Japanese lawmakers visit to the controversial Yasukuni shrine on October 20, 2015. (AFP PHOTO / KAZUHIRO NOGI)
TOKYO - A Japanese cabinet minister visited a controversial shrine for war dead on Tuesday, the third to do so during the autumn festival.
Katsunobu Kato, tasked with boosting the birth rate and coping with Japan's ageing population, visited the Yasukuni Shrine, where war criminals are enshrined along with the war dead, domestic media reported. Some 70 lawmakers also made pilgrimages to the shrine on Tuesday.
The lawmakers from a right-wing group pay homage to the controversial shrine every year during its festivals and anniversaries of the end of World War II on Aug 15.
The Yasukuni, which enshrines 14 Japanese convicted class-A war criminals during WWII, is considered by victimized countries from Japan's wartime aggression as a symbol of the country's past militarism.
Abe made offerings to the shrine on Saturday under the name of prime minister and two of his two cabinet ministers -- Justice Minister Mitsuhide Iwaki and Internal Affairs Minister Sanae Takaichi - worshiped the shrine on Sunday.
Constant visits to the shrine by Japanese ministers and lawmakers have become a major obstacle for Japan to mend ties with its two closest neighbors of China and South Korea, as both of the countries suffered most from Japan's wartime atrocities.

Japanese lawmakers visit to the controversial Yasukuni shrine on October 20, 2015. (AFP PHOTO / KAZUHIRO NOGI)
TOKYO - A Japanese cabinet minister visited a controversial shrine for war dead on Tuesday, the third to do so during the autumn festival.
Katsunobu Kato, tasked with boosting the birth rate and coping with Japan's ageing population, visited the Yasukuni Shrine, where war criminals are enshrined along with the war dead, domestic media reported. Some 70 lawmakers also made pilgrimages to the shrine on Tuesday.
The lawmakers from a right-wing group pay homage to the controversial shrine every year during its festivals and anniversaries of the end of World War II on Aug 15.
The Yasukuni, which enshrines 14 Japanese convicted class-A war criminals during WWII, is considered by victimized countries from Japan's wartime aggression as a symbol of the country's past militarism.
Abe made offerings to the shrine on Saturday under the name of prime minister and two of his two cabinet ministers -- Justice Minister Mitsuhide Iwaki and Internal Affairs Minister Sanae Takaichi - worshiped the shrine on Sunday.
Constant visits to the shrine by Japanese ministers and lawmakers have become a major obstacle for Japan to mend ties with its two closest neighbors of China and South Korea, as both of the countries suffered most from Japan's wartime atrocities.