Japanese minister plans to visit notorious wartime shrine

Japan's newly appointed Internal Affairs Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Tuesday that she plans to pay homage at the notorious war-linked Yasukuni Shrine during its autumn festival that will be kicked off Friday, while the move is expected to anger the country's neighbors, local media report said.

Takaichi, who took the post in September, is a regular visitor to the controversial shrine that honors millions of Japanese war dead, including 14 convicted Class-A Japanese war criminals during the second World War.

Japan's relations with its neighboring countries, particularly China and South Korea, are strained due to the issue as the government here does not refrain from paying visit to the shrine by its ministers as the site has been seen as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the shrine last December and the move drew fierce criticism at home and aboard and he also offered sacrifice to the shrine during its festivals and the Day of Japan's Surrender to WWII under the name of prime minister.

Being seen as a conservative politician and a close follower to Abe, Takaichi also publicly called for a new statement on comfort women issue in the 70th anniversary of the ending of WWII so as to replace the world-recognized "Kono Statement."