A group of Japanese lawmakers from various parties on Thursday visited the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo during its annual autumn festival.

The shrine, viewed as a symbol of Japan’s wartime militarism by neighbouring countries, has been a source of diplomatic friction with China and South Korea, which suffered Japan’s wartime brutality. The shrine honours convicted war criminals along with millions of war dead.

Japanese PM Shinzo Abe sends offering to controversial shrine

The visit came a day after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a ritual offering to Yasukuni, instead of visiting the shrine in person.