Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made an offering to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo today (October 17).

According to Kyodo News and NHK, Prime Minister Takaichi offered a ritual ornament called 'masakaki' under the name of 'Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi' for the shrine's autumn festival, which began today.

Kyodo News, citing sources close to the Prime Minister, reported that she plans to refrain from visiting the shrine in person during the three-day autumn festival running through October 19.

Before taking office as leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in October of last year, Takaichi regularly visited Yasukuni Shrine during the spring and autumn festivals, as well as on August 15, which marks both Korea's Liberation Day and the anniversary of Japan's WWII surrender.

However, since assuming the LDP leadership in October of last year, she did not visit the shrine during the autumn festival that same month, nor during the spring festival this year after taking office as Prime Minister.

On August 15, she offered ritual shrine fees known as 'tamagushi-ryo' at her own expense in her capacity as LDP leader, and performed 'yobai'—bowing toward the shrine from a distance instead of visiting in person.

Yasukuni Shrine honors the spirits of about 2.466 million people who died in civil wars around the Meiji Restoration and numerous wars instigated by Japanese imperialism.

Nearly 90 percent of them, or about 2.133 million spirits, are linked to the Pacific War. Notably, Class A war criminals from the Pacific War, including former Prime Minister Hideki Tojo executed following the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (Tokyo Trials), are enshrined there.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)