Shigeru Ishiba, the Japanese Prime Minister, offered offerings at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, where Class A war criminals from the Pacific War are enshrined, on the 21st. This is the second time he has made offerings since taking office in October of last year.
According to Kyodo News, Prime Minister Ishiba offered a tree called 'Masakaki' as an offering in the name of 'Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba' during the Spring Grand Festival (例大祭) that began on this day.
Prime Minister Ishiba had not visited the Yasukuni Shrine or made offerings prior to taking office. However, since assuming office in October of last year, he began making offerings at the Yasukuni Shrine's Autumn Grand Festival without visiting the shrine.
Former Prime Ministers Fumio Kishida and Yoshihide Suga, who were also from the Liberal Democratic Party like Ishiba, have made offerings to the Yasukuni Shrine without visiting it. It is believed that Prime Minister Ishiba followed this same practice.
Kyodo News evaluated that Prime Minister Ishiba's decision not to visit the shrine seems to have been made 'considering the backlash from China and South Korea' and noted that 'the focus is on the response of the ministers.'
The Yasukuni Shrine is a place that commemorates the spirits of more than 2,466,000 individuals who died in the civil wars and numerous wars waged by Japan before and after the Meiji Restoration. About 2,133,000 of them, or nearly 90%, are related to the Pacific War.