--- title: Justin Bieber: Pop Star Visits Tokyo's Controversial Yasukuni Shrine description: Justin Bieber visits Tokyo shrine honoring Japanese war criminals canonical: https://time.com/73264/justin-bieber-visits-controversial-shrine/ author: David Stout article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-23T07:22:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:09:01.693Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Justin Bieber: Pop Star Visits Tokyo's Controversial Yasukuni Shrine og:description: Justin Bieber visits Tokyo shrine honoring Japanese war criminals og:url: https://time.com/73264/justin-bieber-visits-controversial-shrine/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta9d967884e2caaf0/69868bfff983e7477d04d747/justin.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Premiere Of Open Road Films' "Justin Bieber's Believe" - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Justin Bieber: Pop Star Visits Tokyo's Controversial Yasukuni Shrine twitter:description: Justin Bieber visits Tokyo shrine honoring Japanese war criminals twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta9d967884e2caaf0/69868bfff983e7477d04d747/justin.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Justin Bieber Apologizes for Visiting Shrine Honoring War Criminals in Tokyo ## Video: Justin Bieber Apologizes For Visiting Tokyo Shrine Honoring War Criminals [Watch (HLS stream): Justin Bieber Apologizes For Visiting Tokyo Shrine Honoring War Criminals](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/IWodvSDv.m3u8) (2:05)  _Published 2014-04-23. Justin Bieber is in the middle of a PR recovery effort yet again. The pop star decided to stop by the infamous Yasukuni Shrine where Japanese Class A war criminals have been enshrined and post a photo about it on Instagram._ by [David Stout](https://time.com/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout Apr 23, 2014 7:22 AM UTC  Justin Bieber attends the premiere of Open Road Films' Justin Bieber's Believe at Regal Cinemas L.A. Live in Los Angeles on Dec. 18, 2013 Justin Bieber attends the premiere of Open Road Films' Justin Bieber's Believe at Regal Cinemas L.A. Live in Los Angeles on Dec. 18, 2013Jason Kempin—Getty Images by [David Stout](https://time.com/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout Apr 23, 2014 7:22 AM UTC **Updated: April 23, 2014, 8:06 a.m. E.T.** Did Justin Bieber honor the memory of some of Japan’s [worst war criminals](http://shanghaiist.com/2014/04/23/and%5Fjustin%5Fbieber%5Fjust%5Fwent%5Fto%5Fthe.php) during his recent trip to Tokyo? You better belieb it! According to the international pop sensation’s Twitter and Instagram accounts, Bieber dropped by the notorious Yasukuni Shrine this week, where he paid his respects to Japan’s war dead, including former military leaders from the country’s imperial army who committed mass atrocities across Asia and the Pacific during World War II. “Thank you for your blessings,” tweeted Bieber, which garnered more than 666,000 likes on Instagram and tens of thousands of retweets before the singer suddenly removed the image from his account. But Bieber’s China fans were less than impressed by the visit, urging him on social media to remove the picture out of respect for the dead. Bieber eventually responded to the controversy caused by the incident with an Instagram post on Wednesday of TIME’s story on the upset: “While in Japan I asked my driver to pull over for which I saw a beautiful shrine,” wrote Bieber. “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.” Bieber’s visit to Yasukuni comes almost a year to the day after he visited the Anne Frank House, a museum honoring the legacy of the Jewish teenager who was killed in a Nazi concentration camp in World War II. He [scrawled](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/04/15/justin-bieber-hopes-anne-frank-would-have-been-a-belieber/) in the guestbook that “hopefully she would have been a Belieber.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/73264/justin-bieber-visits-controversial-shrine/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/73264/justin-bieber-visits-controversial-shrine/"},"headline":"Justin Bieber Apologizes for Visiting Shrine Honoring War Criminals in Tokyo","datePublished":"2014-04-23T07:22:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:09:01.693Z","description":"Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber apologized via Instagram after China fans were outraged he visited Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan's fallen during World War II, including some who committed mass atrocities","url":"https://time.com/73264/justin-bieber-visits-controversial-shrine/","keywords":["celebrities","Newsfeed","Justin Bieber","World War II"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta9d967884e2caaf0/69868bfff983e7477d04d747/justin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"David Stout","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/david-stout/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta9d967884e2caaf0/69868bfff983e7477d04d747/justin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Premiere Of Open Road Films' \"Justin Bieber's Believe\" - Arrivals","caption":"Premiere Of Open Road Films' \"Justin Bieber's Believe\" - Arrivals","creditText":"Jason Kempin—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/73264/justin-bieber-visits-controversial-shrine/","name":"Justin Bieber Apologizes for Visiting Shrine Honoring War Criminals in Tokyo"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Justin Bieber Apologizes For Visiting Tokyo Shrine Honoring War Criminals","description":"Justin Bieber is in the middle of a PR recovery effort yet again. 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