Japan PM sends ritual offering to war-linked Yasukuni Shrine, skips visit

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent a ritual offering to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Thursday, the 74th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, but refrained from visiting it on the day for the seventh year in a row.Abe made the monetary offering out of his own pocket, his aide Tomomi Inada told reporters.The Shinto shrine is seen by critics, especially in China and South Korea, where painful memories of Japan's actions before and during the war persist, as a symbol of Tokyo's past militarism.For the third straight year, no Cabinet ministers visited on Aug. 15, although …READ FULL ARTICLE