All networks reported at noon that former Prime Minister Abe visited Yasukuni Shrine this morning during the shrine’s two-day annual autumn festival. He reportedly told the press after his visit: “I visited the shrine in order to pay my respects to the spirits of the war dead.” On Abe’s visit to the shrine, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato reportedly told the press this morning: “We understand that former Prime Minister Abe visited the shrine as an individual in a private capacity. This is a matter of personal freedom of religion, and not a matter in which the government should intervene.”