70 Japanese lawmakers pay homage to notorious Yasukuni shrine

Some 70 Japanese lawmakers visited the notorious war-linked Yasukuni shrine Tuesday, following Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ritual offering and two ministers' visits. The lawmakers from a right-wing group pay homage to the controversial shrine every year during its festivals and anniversaries of the end of World War II on Aug. 15. The Yasukuni, which enshrines 14 Japanese convicted class-A war criminals during WWII, is considered by victimized countries from Japan's wartime aggression as a symbol of the country's past militarism. Abe made offerings to the shrine on Saturday under the name of prime minister and two of his cabinet ministers -- Justice Minister Mitsuhide Iwaki and Internal Affairs Minister Sanae Takaichi -- worshiped the shrine on Sunday. Constant visits to the shrine by Japanese ministers and lawmakers have become a major obstacle for Japan to mend ties with its two closest neighbors of China and South Korea, as both of the countries suffered most from Japan's wartime atrocities.