In Tokyo, three members of the Japanese Cabinet say they will visit the controversial Yasukuni Shrine on Sunday upon the 59th anniversary of the end of World War II.

The three senior government officials are the Economy, Trade and Industry Minister (Shoichi Nakagawa), the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister (Yoshiyuki Kamei) and Chairperson of the National Public Safety Commission (Kiyoko Ono.)

NHK TV said that two other Cabinet members are planning to visit the shrine after Sunday while two other high-ranking officials had already paid their respects at the shrine in Tokyo.

Earlier on Tuesday, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said he would continue his annual visits to the war shrine but would not be making another visit this year.

The shrine in central Tokyo honors Japan's two-and-a-half million war dead, including convicted class-A war criminals. Some countries, including many of Japan's Asian neighbors, view it as a provocative symbol of Japanese militarism in the first half of the 20th century.

Koizumi has visited the shrine four times since taking office as prime minister in 2001, sparking angry protests in South Korea and China, which suffered greatly under Japan's former imperialist aggression.