TOKYO — An influential group representing families of Japanese soldiers killed in World War II has asked the Yasukuni Shrine to separate the 14 war criminals honored there from the other war dead, throwing its weight behind a longstanding proposal to make the site less of a political flash point.

The Fukuoka Prefecture chapter of the War-Bereaved Families Association, or Izokukai, in southern Japan passed a resolution on Monday asking shrine officials to separate the Class A war criminals, who include Gen. Hideki Tojo, the wartime leader, from the other war dead honored at the shrine. While the idea of removing the war criminals has been floated for years, this is the first time that a chapter of the Izokukai, one of the most powerful conservative interest groups in Japan, has supported such a move.

The shrine, which honors Japan’s 2.5 million modern war dead, has become a chronic source of friction with China and South Korea, two victims of early-20th-century Japanese militarism that object to visits to Yasukuni by Japanese leaders. Japan’s current prime minister, Shinzo Abe, a vocal nationalist, increased tensions by visiting the shrine , in central Tokyo, last year.

The visit was widely seen as a bid to please his supporters on the political right, including the Izokukai, which has been a fervent advocate of visits to Yasukuni to honor the war dead. For this reason, Monday’s resolution raised eyebrows in Japan by signaling a new flexibility in at least one chapter of the national group in the face of geopolitical tensions, though it remains to be seen whether other chapters will follow suit.