--- description: Bieber took to Instagram to say he was sorry title: Justin Bieber Apologizes...Again image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1f9341f628ca4c1b/69868c19e53aba02d44d23b9/bieber-1280x720.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Justin Bieber Apologizes For Visiting Tokyo Shrine Honoring War Criminals by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 23, 2014 7:38 PM CUT  This time the pop star apologized for honoring Japanese war criminals. This time the pop star apologized for honoring Japanese war criminals. by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 23, 2014 7:38 PM CUT In what is becoming a recurring theme, Justin Bieber has publicly apologized for being insensitive while abroad. This time the pop-icon said he was sorry for visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan’s war dead, including some military leaders who committed mass atrocities during the Second World War. Beiber wrote in a statement on Instagram that “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.” This misstep happened nearly a year after Bieber wrote in the Anne Frank House’s guestbook that “hopefully \[Anne Frank\] would have been a Belieber.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/74231/justin-bieber-apology-tokyo-shrine/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/74231/justin-bieber-apology-tokyo-shrine/"},"headline":"Justin Bieber Apologizes For Visiting Tokyo Shrine Honoring War Criminals","datePublished":"2014-04-23T19:38:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:27:49.279Z","description":"Bieber took to Instagram to say he was sorry","url":"https://time.com/74231/justin-bieber-apology-tokyo-shrine/","keywords":["celebrities","Justin Bieber","Apology","Tokyo"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1f9341f628ca4c1b/69868c19e53aba02d44d23b9/bieber-1280x720.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Video","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-video/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1f9341f628ca4c1b/69868c19e53aba02d44d23b9/bieber-1280x720.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Bieber Apologizes...Again","caption":"This time the pop star apologized for honoring Japanese war criminals.","creditText":"","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/74231/justin-bieber-apology-tokyo-shrine/","name":"Justin Bieber Apologizes For Visiting Tokyo Shrine Honoring War Criminals"}}]}] ```