In another move likely to elicit anger among neighboring Asian countries, Japanese cabinet ministers visited a shrine for Japanese war dead in Tokyo Friday. 

The Yasukuni Shrine has been regarded as a symbol of Japan's past militarism, and visits in the past by senior Japanese officials have evoked memories of Japanese Imperial Army atrocities in the countries they occupied from the 1930s to the end of World War II.

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The shrine honors 14 Japanese leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal, as well as all of Japan's war dead.

Japanese Internal affairs Minister Yoshitaka Shindo was among the first senior officials to visit the Yasukuni shrine on Friday morning, as Japan commemorates the 69th anniversary of its defeat in World War II. 

In December, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe paid his respects at the shrine, to which Beijing and Seoul reacted sharply. 

Abe is not expected to make another personal visit at this time but was scheduled to lead a a ritual offering through a representative of his Liberal Democratic Party later on Friday. 

Another early visitor on Friday included Keiji Furuya, whose portfolios include the National Public Safety Commission. He was at the shrine within hours of its giant gates opening, joining men in military uniforms, school children and elderly women.

Obviouslt conscious of the repercussions of such official visits, Furuya said he believes "it is the duty of elected representatives such as myself to honor those who gave their lives for the nation and to once more express our prayers for peace." 

"I may be a cabinet minister but I am also Japanese and believe it is only natural that, as a Japanese, I pay my respects," Furuya added.

Among the hundreds of ordinary visitors at the Yasukuni Shrine was Shigeyo Oketa, 80 years old and a maker of traditional geta sandals. He said he had been visiting the Yasukuni shrine since his older brother died in battle in 1945.

"It's natural for us to come here, we're all human and we should pay respect," he said, cradling a black-and-white photo of his younger self and his mother. 

TagsTokyo, Yasukuni Shrine, War Dead Memorial