Abe sends ritual offering to controversial war shrine to mark beginning of Spring Festival

아베, 'A급 전범 합사' 야스쿠니신사 제사에 공물 봉납
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has once again sent a ritual offering to the controversial Yasukuni war shrine to mark the beginning of the three-day Spring Festival in the country.
The shrine, which honors Japan's war dead, including 14 class-A convicted war criminals, has been a source of hostility with Korea and China, victims of Japan's past aggressions.
Abe enraged Seoul and Beijing, and came in for international criticism when he last visited the shrine in 2013.
But to appease his conservative base, he has instead sent a 'masakaki' tree offering every year since, although this action has also been criticized by Korea and China in the past.
Japan is looking to maintain its recent improving relations with its neighbors, especially ahead of the G7 Summit that'll be held in the country in May.

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