After igniting some anger during his recent trip to Japan by posting a photo of the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, Justin Bieber is apologizing to anyone he offended.
He posted a photo to his Instagram of the shrine, which honors 14 of Japan's imperial army leaders who committed war crimes in parts of Asia during the Pacific War, writing "Thank you for your blessings.”
Bieber has since deleted it, and has apologized by letting his fans know he thought it was just a beautiful shrine.
Accompanying a screenshot of a TIME article with the headline “Justin Bieber Drops by Controversial Shrine Honoring War Criminals in Tokyo,” he wrote, “While in Japan I asked my driver to pull over for which I saw a beautiful shrine. I was mislead to think the Shrines were only a place of prayer. To anyone I have offended I am extremely sorry. I love you China and I love you Japan.”
The Yasukuni Shrine is a source of tension between China and Japan and The Shanghaiist believes the post has cost Bieber some of his fans in China.