PM sends Masakaki offering to Japan’s war shrine ritual

Japan’s Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae has made a ritual offering at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo for its spring festival.

The shrine honors Japan’s war dead. This remembered leaders including senior military and political figures convicted of war crimes after World War Two.

Takaichi sent a potted plant “masakaki” with a wooden plaque bearing her name and title. The shrine’s three-day spring festival started on Tuesday.

Before becoming PM, Takaichi had visited Yasukuni Shrine every year, including during her time as a cabinet minister.

Every year, dozens of lawmakers pay their respects during the festivals and in August for the anniversary of the emperor announcing Japan’s surrender in 1945. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the shrine in 2013, sparking fury in Beijing and Seoul and earning a rare diplomatic rebuke from close ally the United States.

The shrine’s autumn festival last year took place in October, shortly after Takaichi was elected president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party but before she assumed the post of prime minister. Takaichi did not visit the shrine, but sent a cash offering using her personal funds then.