TOKYO, April 20 (Xinhua)
-- Japanese Internal Affairs and
Communications Minister Yoshitaka Shindo
visited the notorious war- linked
Yasukuni Shrine Saturday, reported local
media.
Shindo's visit to
the shrine, which honors Japanese war
criminals of the World War II
(WWII), is the first case that
made by a member of Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet that
launched last December.
"It was
a private visit," Japan's Kyodo
News Agency quoted the minister as
saying, adding the minister said that
it was not made in his capacity
as a cabinet
member.
Shindo's visit is
only a day ahead of the
shrine's spring festival, in which
Abe said earlier that he will
not participate.
Chief Cabinet
Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Friday
that cabinet members will decide
whether or not they will visit
the shrine.
Visits to the
Yasukuni Shrine by Japanese leaders
and lawmakers draw strong opposition
from China and South Korea that
suffered Japan's invasion in the
WWII.
China and South Korea
have urged many times that Japanese
leaders should stop visits to the
shrine and take a responsible attitude
toward history.
（Editor：HuangJin、Ye
Xin）
