Japan PM Abe to skip war-linked Yasukuni visit during festival: sources

TOKYO - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will not visit Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo, viewed as a symbol of Japan's wartime militarism by neighboring countries, during its annual autumn festival, government and ruling party sources said Tuesday.But he is expected to send a ritual offering to the Shinto shrine through an official of his Liberal Democratic Party during the four-day ceremony from Thursday, as he did in recent years for Yasukuni's spring and autumn festivals and on Aug. 15, the anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II.Abe has refrained from paying tribute in person at the shrine s…READ FULL ARTICLE