Scores of Japanese lawmakers visited the controversial Yasukuni Shrine Tuesday, just weeks before premier Shinzo Abe is to meet with his counterparts from China and South Korea, which blast the site as a symbol of Tokyo's militarist past.
The Tokyo shrine honours millions of Japan's war dead, but also controversially includes several senior military and political figures convicted of war crimes.
An attached museum portrays Japan more as a victim of US aggression in WWII and makes scant reference to the extreme brutality of invading Imperial troops when they stormed across Asia.
Visits to the shrine by senior Japanese politicians routinely draw an angry reaction from Beijing and Seoul, which on Tuesday said the latest trip was tantamount to "glorifying Japan's forcible colonisation and war of aggression".
The group of 73 politicians and 96 representatives of other lawmakers went to the shrine Tuesday to mark the autumn festival, ahead of trilateral talks among China, Japan and South Korea expected in two weeks' time.
Katsunobu Kato, tapped earlier this month as minister in charge of a newly created portfolio aimed at boosting employment, made a visit to the shrine in the afternoon to mark the autumn festival, local media said.
The visit came after internal affairs minister Sanae Takaichi, a close associate of Abe, and Justice Minister Mitsuhide Iwaki paid homage on Sunday, while Abe, a passionate supporter of the shrine, made a ritual offering on Saturday.
"We are firmly opposed to the wrong actions taken by the Japanese politicians," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Monday, in response to the weekend visit.
"We urge the Japanese side to face honestly and deeply reflect upon (its) history of aggression."
- 'Fought for the country' -
The conservative Japanese prime minister, who did not visit the shrine Tuesday, is due to hold talks next month with the leaders of China and South Korea, the countries that bore the brunt of Japanese military aggression in the 20th century.
Abe is also expected to hold his first official bilateral meeting with South Korean President Park Geun-Hye on the sidelines of the three-way summit, as well as his third bilateral face-to-face with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
"With the (parliament) session closed, the group was smaller this time. Still, we prayed and paid our sincere respects," Hidehisa Otsuji, a former health minister who led Tuesday's shrine visit, told a press briefing.
He said he hoped Abe would visit the shinto sanctuary himself.
"I feel that it wouldn't be so bad if he visits the shrine once in a while, but the decision is up to the prime minister," he said.
The nationalist Abe has visited the shrine once during his time in office, in December 2013. That sparked anger among Japan's neighbours and a diplomatic slap on the wrist from the US, which said it was "disappointed".
Politicians who visit insist they are doing what their counterparts in most other countries do when honouring fallen soldiers, and compare the shrine to Arlington National Cemetery in the US.
"I support them," said 74-year-old Yukiko Kato who lost her father in the bloody Battle of Iwo Jima.
"Soldiers fought for the country so of course politicians visit the shrine."
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