Abe's shrine visit throws regional affairs into a state of confusion

A week after Shinzo Abe's controversial visit to the Yasukuni Shrine on the first anniversary of his return to power as Japan's prime minister, the motivations behind the inflammatory gesture remain puzzling.

But whatever his aim, the repercussions will further complicate the handling of several thorny regional issues.

In a region already bedevilled by maritime tensions and an increasingly unpredictable North Korea, experts said Abe's visit to the shrine on December 26 had shut down avenues for dialogue on how to better manage these issues. And this poses a dilemma for Japan's biggest ally, the United States.

"It's a weird kind of political dynamic in East Asia now," said David Arase, a professor of international politics at the Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Centre.

Abe's shrine visit represents a reversal of his first-term policy, and its timing caught many by surprise. When he succeeded Junichiro Koizumi in 2006, Abe steered clear of the shrine and made a priority of repairing relations with China and South Korea. Japan's ties with both were strained under Koizumi, whose repeated visits to the shrine were seen an affront, given that 14 "class A" war criminals are among the millions of war dead enshrined there.

Watch: Abe's controversial visito to Yasukuni Shrine