TOKYO (AP) — Justin Bieber apologized Wednesday to those he offended by visiting a Japanese war shrine, saying he thought it was a beautiful site and only a place of prayer.

The Yasukuni Shrine in central Tokyo enshrines 2.5 million war dead, including Japan’s 14 convicted war criminals, and operates a war museum that defends Japan’s wartime aggression. It is a flashpoint between Japan and its neighbors that see the shrine as distinct from other Shinto-style establishments mainly honoring gods of nature. China and South Korea in particular see Yasukuni as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism and consider Japanese officials’ visits there as a lack of understanding or remorse over wartime history.