Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's wife makes surprise visit to Yasukuni Shrine

Japanese Prime Minister's wife Akie Abe (right) and her husband, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. (Source: EPA)

A VNA reporter in Japan quoted information from Japan's leading newspaper The Japantimes on August 18 that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's wife on August 17 made a surprise visit to the controversial Yasukuni war shrine in Tokyo - a place to commemorate those who died in World War II, including convicted war criminals.

The newspaper quoted information on the personal page of Japanese Prime Minister Akie Abe's wife that she "felt different" during this visit to the Shinto shrine.

Three days earlier, Mr. Abe's wife also visited Chiran Air Base in Kagoshima Prefecture - where the last Japanese kamikaze pilots committed suicide while on a mission at the end of World War II.

On her personal page, Mr. Abe's wife posted a photo showing her standing next to a priest of the shrine, which honors millions of Japanese who died in World War II, including convicted war criminals, and has been one of the issues that has caused tension in relations between Japan and neighboring countries for many years.

Four days earlier (August 15), Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent offerings and sent his aide Koichi Hagiuda – a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and three ministers in his cabinet to the Yasukuni war shrine to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

This action was immediately criticized and strongly protested by neighboring countries, especially South Korea and China, two countries that were occupied by Japan during World War II and always considered Yasukuni Shrine a symbol of Japan's past militarism.

Previously, Prime Minister Abe's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine in December 2013 caused tensions in relations with Beijing and Seoul, even making close ally Washington very "disappointed"./.

According to VN+