Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has been strongly criticised by China and South Korea after he visited a Tokyo shrine for war dead that is seen as a symbol of Japan's militaristic past.
Japan's relations with its neighbours have already cooled because of Mr Koizumi's annual visits to Yasukuni shrine, where war criminals are honoured along with 2.5 million war dead.
Mr Koizumi - clad in a dark suit rather than the traditional Japanese garb he has worn on some past visits - bowed, put his hands together in prayer and stood silently in front of an outer shrine for a moment before striding back to his car.
He did not enter an inner shrine as he has in the past, and Kyodo news agency said he later told his coalition partner that he had made the visit as "one individual citizen."
Japanese media said the low key atmosphere appeared to be an attempt to mute the expected backlash.
Chinese ambassador to Japan Wang Yi, however, called the visit a "grave provocation to the Chinese people".
"The Chinese government is resolutely opposed to visits to the Yasukuni shrine by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi at any time, in any form," Xinhua news agency quoted Mr Wang as saying.
Japan's embassy in Beijing advised Japanese nationals to stay away from areas where there was potential for anti-Japan demonstrations, such as those that swept China earlier this year.
South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon summoned Japanese ambassador Shotaro Oshima to complain. "We strongly protest the visit to Yasukuni shrine despite our request and strongly urge that it is not repeated," Mr Ban said.
Japanese companies worry the diplomatic strains will hurt burgeoning economic relations especially between China and Japan, which have annual trade worth about $212 billion.