In this file photo dated on April 22, 2022, people visit the controversial Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo, Japan. (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP)

TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sent a ritual offering to the controversial Yasukuni shrine on Monday, the 77th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II.

Kishida sent the offering to the shrine, a symbol of Japan's past militarism, in his capacity as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

While Kishida has not visited the notorious shrine in person since becoming prime minister last October, two of his cabinet members, economic security minister Sanae Takaichi and reconstruction minister Kenya Akiba, both holding newly-assigned ministerial portfolios, paid homage on Monday at the shrine that honors convicted war criminals along with the other war dead.

The Yasukuni shrine in central Tokyo has long-been a source of diplomatic friction with Japan's neighbors as it honors convicted war criminals, including 14 Class-A convicted war criminals

Koichi Hagiuda, the chairman of the LDP's Policy Research Council, and former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, also visited the shrine on Monday.

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Their visits followed that of industry minister Yasutoshi Nishimura on Saturday.

The war-linked shrine in central Tokyo has long-been a source of diplomatic friction with Japan's neighbors as it honors convicted war criminals, including 14 Class-A convicted war criminals.

Both visits in person and ritual offerings that are sent to the infamous shrine by Japanese leaders, officials and lawmakers have consistently sparked strong criticism from China, South Korea and other countries brutally invaded by Japan before and during World War II.

No remorse for wartime aggression

Japan on Monday marked the 77th anniversary of its surrender in World War II, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivering his speech without remorse for the country's wartime aggression history.

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a memorial service marking the 77th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II at the Nippon Budokan hall in Tokyo on Aug 15, 2022. (YUICHI YAMAZAKI / POOL / AFP)

Kishida, in his address, said that the history of suffering and those who died in the war are something never to be forgotten and pledged that the horrors of war should never be repeated.

READ MORE: S. Korea protests against Kishida's offering to war dead

The speech, however, did not mention Japan's wartime aggressions.

This is an extremely pertinent point for the international community to assess Japan's honest reflection on its wartime atrocities, and Japanese prime ministers had previously addressed the country's wartime aggression at the annual commemoration.

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