Japanese Cabinet minister Jin Matsubara has visited the controversial Yasukuni Shrine on the 67th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War Two.

Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported that National Public Safety Commission Chairman Matsubara visited the shrine that honors war dead, including Class-A war criminals.

Matsubara is the first Cabinet minister to visit Yasukuni since the Democratic Party of Japan came to power in September 2009.

Japanese Land Minister Yuichiro Hata also plans to visit the shrine on Wednesday. But 16 of 18 Cabinet ministers, including Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, have chosen not to visit.

The Japanese government has discouraged Cabinet ministers’ visit to the shrine to avoid diplomatic conflicts with South Korea, China and other neighbors.

After President Lee Myung-bak's recent visit to the Dokdo islets, the Japanese Cabinet minister’s visit to the shrine is expected to worsen diplomatic conflicts between Seoul and Tokyo.