According to a report from the Wall Street Journal,Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit the controversial Yasukuni ShrineThursday, government officials said, in a move that is likely to anger Japan's neighbors who view the shrine as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.
The shrine, which honors convicted war criminals along with Japan's war dead, is regarded by Japan's Asian neighbors as a symbol of the country's past militarism.
Mr. Abe had repeatedly said he regretted not visiting the shrine during his first tenure as prime minister from 2006 to 2007.
He last visited the Tokyo shrine in October of last year, after he was chosen as the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, but before the party won the December general election that put him back in power.
