Japanese PM sends ritual offering to notorious war-linked shrine

A wooden sign (L) which reads "Prime Minister Shinzo Abe" is seen on a ritual offering, a masakaki tree, from Abe to the Yasukuni Shrine, inside the main shrine as a visitor prays at the front shrine in Tokyo April 21, 2015.[Photo/Agencies]

TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent a ritual offering to the notorious Yasukuni Shrine on the first day of its spring festival, local media reported Tuesday.

Abe, who is scheduled to leave Tokyo later the day to attend the Asian-African Conference in Indonesia, dedicated a "masakaki" tree offering to the shrine which honors Japan's war dead, including 14 Class-A criminals of World War II.

However, the prime minister is likely to refrain from visiting the war-linked shrine during its annual festival from Tuesday to Thursday in order to strike a balance between his conservative supporters and Japan's neighboring countries, said Japan's Kyodo News Agency.