# Japan defence minister visits contentious Yasukuni Shrine to war dead

https://mins.news/en/item/22738

- Reuters, 2026-08-15 03:20 UTC
- Politics
- Original: https://www.reuters.com/world/china/japan-defence-minister-visits-contentious-yasukuni-shrine-war-dead-2026-08-15/?link_source=ta_bluesky_link&taid=6a7fdaf6325a7500012aad94

> Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi visited Yasukuni Shrine on Saturday, as Japan marked the 81st anniversary of its surrender in World War Two. Asian neighbours regard the shrine, dedicated to the nation’s war dead, as a symbol of wartime aggression.

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- [Japanese defence minister visits war shrine, angering China and South Korea](https://mins.news/en/item/22919) — Al Jazeera, 2026-08-15
- [Japanese Defense Minister Koizumi prays at shrine seen by neighbors as symbol of Japanese militarism](https://mins.news/en/item/22780) — The Associated Press, 2026-08-15
