Japan legislators visit war shrine

Dozens of Japanese legislators visited a controversial war shrine on Wednesday, in an annual pilgrimage that drew an angry response from Seoul which sees it as a painful reminder of Tokyo’s warring past.

The group of about 85 politicians arrived at the leafy Yasukuni shrine in downtown Tokyo during a four-day autumn festival.

Led by priests, the dark-suited legislators entered the main shrine building to pray for Japan’s war dead as they bowed at the threshold. The visit comes a day after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe — often criticised for what some see as a revisionist take on Japan’s wartime record — sent an offering to the shrine, but avoided a visit.

Yasukuni honours millions of Japanese war dead, but also senior military and political figures convicted of war crimes after World War II. The indigenous Shinto religious shrine has for decades been a flashpoint for criticism by countries that suffered from Japan’s colonialism and aggression in the first half of the 20th century, including China and the two Koreas. Seoul called on Japanese politicians to “demonstrate through action their humble self-reflection and sincere remorse for Japan’s past wrongdoings”. On Wednesday, four Chinese coastguard ships entered Japan’s territorial waters close to disputed islands that have been a thorn in the side of diplomatic relations for years.