A Pokémon card game event at a shrine honouring Japan's war dead has been cancelled following a backlash in China. The Pokémon Company apologised for advertising the event, organised by a certified third party, through its official website, and said it 'should not have been held in the first place'. The event was due to be held on Saturday at the Yasukuni Shrine, near the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, which commemorates those who died in several wars including convicted war criminals. The blunder comes at a moment of worsening relations between China and Japan over the stance of the latter's new prime minister on Taiwan. The Yasukuni Shrine honours Japanese soldiers who died in a number of wars, including both Sino-Japanese wars and the Pacific theatre of World War Two. However, the enshrinement of the names of over 1,000 convicted war criminals among the roughly 2.5 million people it honours has long made it a controversial site for nations that suffered under Japanese occupation. The Pokémon Company stated the event had been 'mistakenly posted' on its website 'due to a lack of due diligence'. After discovering the incident, the event was promptly cancelled, and the company expressed sincere apologies for the reactions generated. They also committed to review and strengthen their approval process to prevent a similar issue in the future. The incident adds to the complexity of relations between China and Japan, with recent tensions exacerbated by comments from Japan's Prime Minister suggesting responses to threats from China regarding Taiwan.