Group of lawmakers visits Yasukuni Shrine

Apr 21 (NHK) - A nonpartisan group of Japanese lawmakers has visited Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.

The Shinto shrine honors Japan's war dead. Those remembered include leaders convicted of war crimes after World War Two.

76 members of the Upper and Lower Houses of the Diet made the visit on Friday ahead of the shrine's spring festival. They include 3 state ministers and 3 parliamentary vice ministers.

The group's leader, former health minister Hidehisa Otsuji, told reporters that the members want Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to visit the shrine, especially when Japan faces trouble at home and abroad.

Otsuji said he hopes Abe will steer state affairs in a way that does not disgrace the people who dedicated their lives to the country.

The group regularly visits the shrine around the times of its annual spring and autumn festivals and on August 15th, when Japan marks the end of World War Two.

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