Pop star Justin Bieber has had to issue an apology, but not for an arrest or any rowdy behavior. This time, he has had to apologize for visiting the controversial Yasukuni war memorial in Tokyo.
Bieber publicized his visit to the shrine, which honors Japanese veterans from World War II, including 14 war criminals, with posts on Twitter and Instagram. It was quickly picked up by media outlets and fans retweeted the image. MTV News notes that the Instagram post ended up with over 600,000 likes.
Later, Bieber and his team took down the posts, although screenshots of it still exist. Bieber then issued a statement on Instagram, apologizing for the visit.
“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,” the singer wrote. “To anyone I have offended I am extremely sorry. I love you China and I love you Japan.”
The Yasukuni Shrine remains a controversial topic and location in Japan and China. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recently visited the shrine, sparking anger from the Chinese government. The war criminals memorialized there committed atrocities in China during World War II.
image via Instagram from Justin Bieber