Ishiba sends offering to Yasukuni war shrine

Controversial shrine: Shinto priests bowing as they attend a ritual during an autumn festival at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. No Japanese prime minister has appeared at the shrine since 2013, when Abe sparked fury in Beijing and Seoul and earned a rare diplomatic rebuke from close ally the United States. — Reuters

The country’s new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba sent a ritual offering to a shrine honouring the country’s war dead that has long angered neighbouring countries, a spokesman for the site said.

No Japanese premier has visited Yasukuni Shrine since 2013 and Ishiba’s predecessor Fumio Kishida would also regularly send offerings for its biannual spring and autumn festivals.