By Jill Reilly for MailOnline China and South Korea reacted strongly to visits by two Japanese Cabinet ministers to a Tokyo shrine that honours the war dead including convicted war criminals. Keiji Furuya, chairman of the National Public Safety Commission, one of the two ministers who visited Yasukuni Shrine, said it was 'only natural as a Japanese' to honor those who had given up their lives for their country. Although Japan's prime minister stayed away, Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Yoshitaka Shindo told reporters his visit was a vow to never wage war again, and shrugged off concerns it may set off a diplomatic row.
@highlight
Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine honours war dead including convicted  criminals
@highlight
Internal Affairs and Communications Minister said his visit was a vow to never wage war again
@highlight
China lambasted visits as proof of Tokyo's wrong understanding of history
@highlight
South Korean: Japanese politicians hurt both South Koreans and Japanese
@placeholder's national flag flutters among visitors at the Yasukuni Shrine