Japan has angered China and South Korea after the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent an offering to a shrine for war dead on the 68th anniversary of Japan’s World War Two defeat.
The offering, and visit by cabinet ministers to the shrine, has drawn harsh complaints from China and South Korea, and put tentative steps to improve ties at risk.
Mr Abe did not visit the shrine himself as he treads a fine line between trying not to inflame tension with China and South Korea and upholding a conservative ideology shared by his supporters.
But at least three cabinet ministers and dozens of lawmakers paid their respects at Yasukuni Shrine, seen as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.
Speaking to reporters at his office Mr Abe said that he “asked my special aide to make the offering on my behalf with a feeling of gratitude and respect for those who fought and gave their precious lives for their country."
Visits to the shrine by top politicians outrage China and South Korea because the shrine honours 14 Japanese wartime leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal, along with war dead.
China summoned the Japanese ambassador to protest.
"It does not matter in what form or using what identity Japanese political leaders visit the Yasukuni Shrine, it is an intrinsic attempt to deny and beautify that history of invasion by the Japanese militarists," China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"We urge Japan to take concrete steps to win the trust of the international community; otherwise Japan's relations with its Asian neighbours have no future.”
A retired Chinese general was more blunt, with Major General Luo Yuan asking "can you imagine what the world would think of Germany if they paid homage to Nazi boss Hitler?" in the influential tabloid the Global Times.
China and Korea suffered under Japanese rule, with parts of China occupied from the 1930s and Korea colonised from 1910 to 1945. Japanese leaders have apologised in the past but many in China and South Korea doubt the sincerity of the apologies, partly because of contradictory remarks by politicians.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry called the visits "deplorable", saying they showed the ministers were "still keeping their eyes shut to history" and urging Japan to offer a sincere apology.
Japanese conservatives say it is only natural to honour the war dead and deny that doing so at Yasukuni glorifies the war.
Internal affairs minister Yoshitaka Shindo and administrative reform minister Tomomi Inada also visited the shrine as did a group of 89 lawmakers, including LDP policy chief Sanae Takaichi and aides to another 101 MPs.
The controversial visit come as Chinese state media report that its military would conduct live fire drills for four days in the East China Sea, though not close to Japan.
Some Japanese media speculated this was timed to coincide with the Yasukuni visits.
Despite close economic ties and recent calls by Abe for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Japan's relations with its neighbours remain fraught.
