TOKYO, Aug 7: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has decided not to visit a controversial war shrine on the sensitive anniversary next week of Japan's defeat in World War II, a report said Tuesday.

The conservative premier, struggling to recover from a major election setback, will not visit on Aug 15 to avoid diplomatic turmoil and further domestic woes, the Tokyo Shimbun said without identifying its sources.

Tokyo's Yasukuni shrine honours 2.5 million Japanese war dead including colonial subjects and 14 leading World War II war criminals.

Asked about the report, Abe refused to comment, keeping his policy of strategic silence since taking office in last September.

—AFP