Pop idol Justin Bieber has apologized for his visit to Japan's Yasukuni War Shrine saying he was not aware of the controversy it would elicit among his Chinese fans.

Bieber has also taken down a photo of his visit to the shrine which he posted Wednesday on his Instagram account.

Chinese fans had reacted strongly against the Instagram photo, with one netizen urging others to boycott Bieber.

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Another Weibo user from Guangzhou said he can not stand Bieber's visit to the shrine, a post which picked up 700 'likes' within minutes of its posting on the microblog.

China's Foreign Ministry likewise weighed in, saying they are not familiar with the Canadian star and his political leanings but that China's position on the Yasukuni shrine remains consistent.

China considers the Yasukuni Shrine as a symbol of Japan's war atrocities, being the burial place of many Japanese soldiers who perished during the war, along with convicted war criminals.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was repeatedly lambasted by the Chinese government and Chinese people for his recent visit to the shrine although he said his visit there was not a political statement but merely to pay his respects to departed fellowmen.

Bieber said he was clueless about any socio-political implications of his visit to the shrine and that he was just told it was a place for prayer.

His shrine photo on Instagram had earned some 660,000 likes before he took it down.

In his apology post later, Bieber tried to placate fans from both countries by saying 'I love you China, I love you Japan.' 

TagsJustin Bieber, Yasukuni Shrine