Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday sent a ritual offering to the controversial Yasukini Shrine, a place that honors Japan's war dead including Class-A war criminals.

Japan's Kyodo News reported that Abe sent a masakaki tree to Yasukuni on Thursday, the first day of the annual autumn festival of the shrine. 

Abe has not visited the controversial shrine since December 2013 in what may be consideration for Tokyo's relations with South Korea and China, but has sent offerings during its spring and autumn festivals and on August 15, the day Japan surrendered to Allied forces during WWII in 1945.

The latest offering also comes amid escalating tensions between South Korea and Japan over trade and historical issues. 

Located in central Tokyo, Yasukuni honors more than two million Japanese war dead, including 14 Class-A criminals as determined at the post-war Tokyo trials.