Chinese coastguard ships have entered waters off disputed islands in the East China Sea, the Japan coastguard says, a day after prime minister Shinzo Abe angered Beijing by sending an offering to a controversial war shrine.
Three Japanese ministers also visited the Yasukuni Shrine in downtown Tokyo on Saturday, the first cabinet ministers to join a pilgrimage by 100 politicians to the spot condemned by China and Korea as a symbol of Japan's wartime aggression.
Three Chinese vessels sailed into territorial waters that extend 12 nautical miles around one of the Japanese-controlled Senkaku islands, which China also claims and calls the Diaoyus, shortly after 10:00am (local time), the Japanese coastguard said.
Relations between Japan and China have been in deep freeze for two years over the ownership of the islands and what Beijing views as Japan's rewriting of history - especially concerning World War II.
Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine is widely seen as a symbol of Japan's past militarism and visits there by politicians anger China and South Korea, which both suffered under Japanese occupation in the last century and feel Japan has never fully atoned for its actions.
Internal affairs and communications minister Sanae Takaichi, who is a regular visitor to the shrine, visited on Saturday after telling reporters this week she wanted to pay her respects to those who have died in wars.
Domestic media reported that Eriko Yamatani, minister in charge of abduction issues and head of the national public safety commission, also visited Yasukuni on Saturday.
Mr Abe himself sent a potted tree with his name and title prominently displayed, but it was thought unlikely he would visit the shrine after he returns home Saturday from a summit in Italy.
Anger over 'glorification' of war
On Friday, China expressed "serious concern" after Mr Abe's offering while South Korea said it deplored the offering to the shrine, which it called "the symbol of glorification of Japan's colonisation and invasive war".
Mr Abe's visit in December last year infuriated Beijing and Seoul, who say the inclusion of senior war criminals among those honoured by the shrine makes it an insult to victims of atrocities Tokyo committed before and during World War II.
The 145-year-old Shinto shrine is the supposed repository of the souls of some 2.5 million citizens and soldiers who died in World War II and other conflicts.
They include senior figures in the WWII administration, such as General Hideki Tojo, who ordered the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Mr Abe has stayed away from the shrine since the 2013 visit, instead sending offerings on key dates, seeking to tread a fine line between his conservative convictions and the diplomatic imperative to improve ties with China.
His colleagues' shrine visit came just hours after Mr Abe shook hands with Chinese premier Li Keqiang on the sidelines of an Asia-Europe summit in the Italian city of Milan.
The handshake had been seen as the latest sign of a tentative thaw, with Japan pressing for a summit with Chinese president Xi Jinping next month.
Chinese ships in disputed waters after Japan's prime minister Shinzo Abe sends offering to Yasukuni war shrine - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Three Japanese ministers also visited the Yasukuni Shrine in downtown Tokyo on Saturday, the first cabinet ministers to join a pilgrimage by 100 politicians to the spot condemned by China and Korea as a symbol of Japan's wartime aggression.
Three Chinese vessels sailed into territorial waters that extend 12 nautical miles around one of the Japanese-controlled Senkaku islands, which China also claims and calls the Diaoyus, shortly after 10:00am (local time), the Japanese coastguard said.
Relations between Japan and China have been in deep freeze for two years over the ownership of the islands and what Beijing views as Japan's rewriting of history - especially concerning World War II.
Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine is widely seen as a symbol of Japan's past militarism and visits there by politicians anger China and South Korea, which both suffered under Japanese occupation in the last century and feel Japan has never fully atoned for its actions.
Internal affairs and communications minister Sanae Takaichi, who is a regular visitor to the shrine, visited on Saturday after telling reporters this week she wanted to pay her respects to those who have died in wars.
Domestic media reported that Eriko Yamatani, minister in charge of abduction issues and head of the national public safety commission, also visited Yasukuni on Saturday.
Mr Abe himself sent a potted tree with his name and title prominently displayed, but it was thought unlikely he would visit the shrine after he returns home Saturday from a summit in Italy.
Anger over 'glorification' of war
On Friday, China expressed "serious concern" after Mr Abe's offering while South Korea said it deplored the offering to the shrine, which it called "the symbol of glorification of Japan's colonisation and invasive war".
Mr Abe's visit in December last year infuriated Beijing and Seoul, who say the inclusion of senior war criminals among those honoured by the shrine makes it an insult to victims of atrocities Tokyo committed before and during World War II.
The 145-year-old Shinto shrine is the supposed repository of the souls of some 2.5 million citizens and soldiers who died in World War II and other conflicts.
They include senior figures in the WWII administration, such as General Hideki Tojo, who ordered the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Mr Abe has stayed away from the shrine since the 2013 visit, instead sending offerings on key dates, seeking to tread a fine line between his conservative convictions and the diplomatic imperative to improve ties with China.
His colleagues' shrine visit came just hours after Mr Abe shook hands with Chinese premier Li Keqiang on the sidelines of an Asia-Europe summit in the Italian city of Milan.
The handshake had been seen as the latest sign of a tentative thaw, with Japan pressing for a summit with Chinese president Xi Jinping next month.
Chinese ships in disputed waters after Japan's prime minister Shinzo Abe sends offering to Yasukuni war shrine - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Keep it up...its interesting.
