PM hints that there is no need to reiterate apology for country’s war crimes and aggression although he says he ‘upholds basic thinking’ behind it A sacred branch with red ribbons, offered by Shinzo Abe, is seen in the main hall of the Yasukuni war shrine in Tokyo on Tuesday as a man claps hand to offer prayers for people who died during the second world war. Photograph: Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty