were somewhat inevitable, but unlikely to be a disaster.
“It would have been better if cabinet ministers had stayed away, as well as the prime minister,” he said.
But Abe could not stop ministers from going “in a private capacity”, he said, pointing to the political need for conservative politicians to appease their support base.
“There is considerable repulsion among people on the right who believe Japan makes too many concessions” on history.
It is often said that Japan-China relations are cold politically but hot economically, he noted.
“There would be no point in worsening ties further when Abenomics seems to be bringing some benefits,” he said, referring to Abe’s pro-spending economic policies.
“I think it is unlikely to cause major damage” to ties, he added.
In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China was “strongly opposed” to visits that “represent their erroneous attitude towards history”.
“I’d like to reiterate that only by facing squarely and having deep remorse over the past history of aggression and making a clean break with militarism, can China-Japan relations realise sound and steady relations and development.”
In a sign of how much history haunts relations in Asia, Abe’s speech in Jakarta on Wednesday touched on World War II, but somewhat soft-pedalled, expressing “deep remorse” and not the “heartfelt apology” former prime ministers have proffered.
“I hope the Japanese side can take seriously the concerns of its Asian neighbours,” CCTV News reported Xi as saying.
Yasukuni Shrine honours those who fought and died for Japan, but also includes a number of senior military and political figures convicted of the most serious war crimes.
Yamatani, Arimura and Takaichi are conservative female ministers who also visited the shrine during its autumn festival last year.
Abe, who has not visited since December 2013, sent a symbolic offering of a small tree on Tuesday, sparking anger from Beijing and Seoul.