A majority of Japanese voters want Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to heed the diplomatic fallout after his visit to a controversial war shrine, but nevertheless largely approved of his job performance, a poll showed Sunday.

In a telephone survey taken by Kyodo News on Saturday and Sunday, 69.8 percent of respondents said the conservative leader should pay attention to the implications of his recent surprise visit to the Yasukuni Shrine.

It also showed that 47.1 percent said it was "not good" that Abe visited the shrine.

The news agency did not immediately release details of the nationwide survey, such as the number of participants.

Abe on Thursday visited the Yasukuni Shrine, which is believed to be the repository of around 2.5 million souls of Japan's war dead, most of them common soldiers, but also including several high-level officials executed for war crimes after World War II.

The visit, which came at a time when Japan's relations with China have turned particularly sour over a territorial dispute regarding islands in the East China Sea, prompted an angry reaction from Beijing, which sees the shrine as a symbol of Japan's war-time militarism.

Three Chinese government ships entered the territorial waters around the Diaoyu Islands for several hours Sunday, according to the Japanese coastguard.

Seoul also reacted angrily to Abe's visit to the shrine, while Japan's ally the US said it was "disappointed" by the prime minister's decision as it will raise regional tensions.

Japanese pundits also voiced worries that the visit could damage Tokyo's already strained ties with the key neighboring trade partners.

AFP