Japan is paying tribute to more than 3 million war dead as the country marks its surrender 80 years ago, ending World War II, as concern grows about the rapidly fading memories of the tragedy of war and the bitter lessons from the era of Japanese militarism.

In a national ceremony on Friday at Tokyo’s Budokan hall, about 4,500 officials and bereaved families and their descendants from around the country will observe a moment of silence at noon, the time when the then-emperor’s surrender speech began on Aug 15, 1945.

Just a block away at Yasukuni Shrine, seen by Asian neighbours as a symbol of militarism, dozens of Japanese rightwing politicians and their supporters came to pray. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba stayed away from Yasukuni and sent a religious ornament as a personal gesture instead of praying at the controversial shrine.