日本内阁部长参拜靖国神社

Two Japanese cabinet ministers have visited a war shrine seen by many as a symbol of Tokyo's imperialist past, in a move likely to anger China and South Korea.

National Public Safety Commission Chairman Jin Matsubara and Land Minister Yuichiro Hata on Wednesday paid homage at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine.

The visit, which comes on the 67th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, is the first by a cabinet minister since the Democratic Party came to power in 2009, pledging improved relations with Tokyo's Asian neighbors.

Though economic ties between Seoul and Tokyo are strong, anti-Japan sentiment is widespread in South Korea. Japan imposed harsh colonial rule on South Korea and parts of China during much of the first half of last century.两名日本内阁部长参拜靖国神社，这一举动可能激怒中国和韩国。很多人将靖国神社视为以往日本军国主义的象征。

星期三，日本国家安全委员长松原仁和国土交通大臣羽田雄一郎参拜了位于东京的靖国神社。

松原仁和羽田雄一郎是在第二次世界大战日本投降67周年之际参拜靖国神社的。自从日本民主党2009年开始执政以来，这是日本内阁部长级官员首次参拜靖国神社。日本民主党保证与亚洲邻国改善关系。

虽然韩国与日本的经济关系密切，但韩国民众中普遍存在反日情绪。在20世纪上半叶，日本曾对韩国和中国部分地区实行严酷的殖民统治。