Japanese cabinet ministers visit Tokyo war shrine

Two Japanese ministers were part of a cross-party group of lawmakers who visited a controversial Tokyo war shrine Thursday, the day after opposition leader Shinzo Abe angered China by paying homage there.

Dozens of parliamentarians were at Yasukuni Shrine, an AFP journalist witnessed, as part of celebrations for Japan's autumn festival.

Among the lawmakers were transport minister Yuichiro Hata of the ruling Democratic Party (DPJ) and postal reform minister Mikio Shimoji of DPJ's junior coalition partner, People's New Party, local media said.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has stayed away from the shrine and previously told his cabinet to do the same.

Opposition leader Shinzo Abe, a man well-placed to become Japan's next prime minister, was at the Shinto shrine Wednesday, prompting criticism from China.

State media there said Abe's visit would "further poison bilateral ties".

"At such a delicate moment, Abe's visit... has added insult to injury and dealt another blow to the already fragile Sino-Japanese relations," the Xinhua news agency said.

"Provocative and short-sighted actions would harm the interests of Japan and its people," it said, noting that already the "strained political ties have produced serious economic fallout for both sides".

Japan and China have spent the last few months at loggerheads over a group of islands in the East China Sea.

The Shinto shrine in central Tokyo honours 2.5 million war dead, including 14 convicted Class A war criminals from World War II.

Visits to the shrine by government ministers and high-profile figures spark outrage in China and on the Korean peninsula, where many feel Japan has failed to atone for its brutal aggression in the first half of the 20th Century.

On August 15, the anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, two ministers -- Hata and Jin Matsubara, the minister in charge of the issue of Japanese kidnapped by North Korea -- visited Yasukuni. (AFP)