IN BRIEF (Page 24)

JAPAN

Minister visits notorious shrine

New reconstruction minister of Shinzo Abe's Cabinet visited the war-linked notorious Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Thursday. Masahiro Imamura, minister in charge of comprehensive policy coordination for revival from the nuclear accident at Fukushima, is a regular visitor to the shrine, which honors millions of war dead as well as 14 convicted Class-A war criminals of World War II. He routinely visits the shrine during its spring and autumn festivals. His visit came just days before the Aug 15 anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II.