TOKYO – Japanese Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy Minoru Kiuchi visited the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Saturday morning, becoming the first member of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's cabinet reported to have visited the shrine during its autumn festival this year.

Kiuchi offered "masakaki," a ritual offering of evergreen branches, at the shrine, while House of Representatives Speaker Eisuke Mori and House of Councillors President Masakazu Sekiguchi also sent offerings, Kyodo News reported. The shrine's three-day autumn festival began Saturday.

Earlier in the day, Kyodo News reported that Takaichi had sent a "masakaki" offering to the shrine under her title of prime minister.

Takaichi, a conservative politician who regularly visited the shrine before becoming prime minister last year, is unlikely to visit it during the current festival, Kyodo News reported, citing a source close to her.

Yasukuni Shrine, located in central Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward, honors 14 convicted Japanese Class-A war criminals from World War II. It has long been a source of diplomatic friction between Japan and its neighbors.

For a long time, visits and ritual offerings made by Japanese officials to the controversial shrine have consistently sparked criticism and opposition both at home and abroad, hurting the feelings of the people of China, South Korea, and other countries and regions victimized by Japan's wartime aggression.