Japanese war criminals would not have been Beliebers, Justin Bieber urges.
On a tour of Tokyo, the troubled pop star visited the controversial Yasukuni Shrine. The memorial honors wartime dead, including criminals who committed atrocities during World War II.
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Bieber Instagrammed a photo of his visit and captioned it, “Thank you for your blessings.” It received over 600,000 likes but spurred international outrage. Many of Bieber’s Chinese and South Korean fans cried foul and called upon the star to recant his well-wishes for the shrine.
Bieber took down the photo and put up a screenshot of a critical Time magazine article calling him out for his faux pas.
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“While in Japan I asked my driver to pull over for which I saw a beautiful shrine,” Bieber wrote. “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.”
Read Bieber’s apology below: