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Yasukuni Shrine

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Template:Redirect Template:Short description Template:Infobox religious building Template:Nihongo is a Shinto shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Emperor Meiji in June 1869 and commemorates those who died in service of Japan, from the Boshin War of 1868–1869, to the two Sino-Japanese Wars, 1894–1895 and 1937–1945 respectively, and the First Indochina War of 1946–1954.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The shrine's purpose has been expanded over the years to include those who died in the wars involving Japan spanning from the entire Meiji and Taishō periods, and the earlier part of the Shōwa period.<ref name="deities">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The shrine lists the names, origins, birthdates and places of death of 2,466,532 people.<ref name="deities"/> Among those are 1,066 convicted war criminals from the Pacific War, twelve of whom were charged with Class A crimes (the planning, preparation, initiation, or waging of the war). Eleven were convicted on those charges, with the twelfth found not guilty on all such charges, though he was found guilty of Class B war crimes. The names of two more men charged with Class A war crimes are on the list but one died during trial and one before trial so they were never convicted.

Another memorial at the honden (main hall) building commemorates anyone who died on behalf of Japan and so includes Koreans and Taiwanese who served Japan at the time. The Chinreisha ("Spirit Pacifying Shrine") building is a shrine built to inter the souls of all the people who died during World War II, regardless of their nationality. It is located directly south of the Yasukuni Honden.

The enshrinement of war criminals, as well as the shrine's historical association with State Shinto, has made the shrine highly controversial within East Asia. The Emperor Shōwa, under whom Japan fought during World War II, visited the shrine 8 times between the end of the war and 1975.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, he thereafter boycotted the shrine due to his reported displeasure over the enshrinement of top convicted Japanese war criminals.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> His successors, Akihito and Naruhito, have never visited the shrine.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Japanese Government's involvement with the shrine remains highly controversial, with the most recent Japanese Prime Minister to visit the shrine while in office being Shinzo Abe in 2013.

HistoryEdit

Template:See also

Foundation for the dead in the Boshin War and Meiji RestorationEdit

File:Tokyo Shokonsha.JPG
Tōkyō Shōkonsha in 1873

The site for the Yasukuni Shrine, originally named Template:Nihongo, was chosen by order of the Meiji Emperor.<ref>Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1963). The Vicissitudes of Shinto, pp. 118–134.</ref> The shrine was established in 1869, in the wake of the Boshin War, in order to honor the souls of those who died fighting for the Emperor. It initially served as the "apex" of a network of similar shrines throughout Japan that had originally been established for the souls of various feudal lords' retainers, and which continued to enshrine local individuals who died in the Emperor's service.<ref name="nippon0821a"/>

Following the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion, the Emperor had 6,959 souls of war dead enshrined at Tōkyō Shōkonsha.<ref name="nippon0821a">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1879, the shrine was renamed Yasukuni Jinja. The name Yasukuni, quoted from the phrase「{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} in the classical-era Chinese text Zuo Zhuan (Scroll 6, 23rd Year of Duke Xi), literally means "Pacifying the Nation" and was chosen by the Meiji Emperor.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The name is formally written as Template:Nihongo2, using the kyūjitai character forms common before the end of the Pacific War.

From First Sino-Japanese War to Second Sino-Japanese WarEdit

The enshrinement of war dead at Yasukuni was transferred to military control in 1887. As the Empire of Japan expanded, Okinawans, Ainu and Koreans were enshrined at Yasukuni alongside ethnic Japanese. Emperor Meiji refused to allow the enshrinement of Taiwanese due to the organized resistance that followed the Treaty of Shimonoseki, but Taiwanese were later admitted due to the need to conscript them during World War II.<ref name="nippon0821a" /> In 1932, two Sophia University (Jōchi Daigaku) Catholic students refused visit to Yasukuni Shrine on the grounds that it was contrary to their religious convictions.<ref name="A. Hamish Ion">Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1936, the Society for the Propagation of the Faith (Propaganda Fide) of the Roman Curia issued the Instruction Pluries Instanterque,<ref name="Pluries">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and approved visits to Yasukuni Shrine as an expression of patriotic motive.<ref name="Breen">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This response allowed the Jesuit university to avoid potential repercussions, though it aligned the institution with the prevailing national policy. Template:ClarifyTemplate:Opinion

During World War II and the GHQ control periodEdit

Template:See also By the 1930s, the military government sought centralized state control over memorialization of the war dead, giving Yasukuni a more central role. Enshrinements at Yasukuni were originally announced in the government's official gazette so that the souls could be treated as national heroes. In April 1944, this practice ended and the identities of the spirits were concealed from the general public.<ref name="nippon0821a" />

The shrine was used as a focal point for fostering military and civilian morale during the war era, often emphasizing dedication to the Emperor.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Enshrinement at Yasukuni signified meaning and nobility to those who died for their country. During the final days of the war, it was common for soldiers sent on kamikaze suicide missions to say that they would "meet again at Yasukuni" following their death.<ref name="nippon1125">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Some wartime military songs referenced Yasukuni, such as Doki no Sakura(同期の桜) and Calming the country(国の鎮め). At that time, however, the coalition saw that Japan, which was in a tight corner, was using Yasukuni for propaganda purposes. During wartime, Yasukuni Shrine was used as a symbolic motivator for soldiers, with some references in military rhetoric linking enshrinement to notions of sacrifice.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

After World War II, the US-led Occupation Authorities (known as GHQ for General Headquarters) issued the Shinto Directive, which ordered the separation of church and state and forced Yasukuni Shrine to become either a secular government institution or a religious institution independent from the Japanese government. Yasukuni Shrine has been privately funded and operated since 1946, when it was elected to become an individual religious corporation, independent of the Association of Shinto Shrines.<ref name="JapanFocus">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Some reports suggest that GHQ considered repurposing the Yasukuni Shrine grounds, but the plan was never implemented.<ref name="Deities at Yasukuni Shrine">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> However, Father Bruno Bitter of the Roman Curia and Father Patrick Byrne of Maryknoll insisted to the GHQ that honoring their war dead is the right and duty of citizens everywhere, and the GHQ decided not to destroy the Yasukuni shrine.<ref name="Breen" /> In 1951, the Roman Curia reaffirmed the 1936 ruling that Catholic visits to Yasukuni Shrine could be acceptable as a patriotic gesture rather than a religious act.<ref name="Pluries" /><ref name="Breen" />

Post-war issues and controversiesEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

Enshrinement of war criminalsEdit

In 1956, the shrine authorities and the Ministry of Health and Welfare established a system for the government to share information with the shrine regarding deceased war veterans. By April 1959, most of Japan's war dead who were not already enshrined at Yasukuni were enshrined in this manner.<ref name="nippon1125" /> War criminals prosecuted by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East were initially excluded from enshrinement after the war.<ref name="nippon1125" /> In 1951, government authorities began considering their enshrinement, along with providing veterans' benefits to their survivors, following the signature of the Treaty of San Francisco. In 1954, government directed some local memorial shrines to accept the enshrinement of war criminals from their area.<ref name="asahi0121">Template:Cite news</ref>

No convicted war criminals were enshrined at Yasukuni until after the parole of the last remaining incarcerated war criminals in 1958. In 1959, the Health and Welfare Ministry began forwarding information on Class B and Class C war criminals (those not involved in the planning, preparation, initiation, or waging of the war) to Yasukuni Shrine. These individuals were gradually enshrined between 1959 and 1967, often without permission from surviving family members.<ref name="nippon1125" /><ref name="asahi0121" />

In 1966, information on fourteen men who had been charged with Class A war crimes was forwarded to the shrine. Eleven were convicted on these charges, one was convicted of Class B war crimes, and two died before completing trial. This group included the prime ministers and top generals from the war era. In 1970, the shrine passed a resolution to enshrine these individuals. The timing for their enshrinement was left to the discretion of head priest Fujimaro Tsukuba, who delayed the enshrinement through his death in March 1978.<ref name="nippon1125" />

File:軍装するコスプレイヤー.jpg
Visitors in military uniforms with the Rising Sun Flag in August 2012

In 1978, his successor Nagayoshi Matsudaira, who rejected the Tokyo war crimes tribunal's verdicts, enshrined these fourteen convicted or alleged war criminals in a secret ceremony.<ref name="nippon1125" /> Records indicate that after the enshrinement of convicted war criminals in 1978, no Japanese emperor has visited the shrine.<ref name=":0" /> In 1979, the details of the enshrinement of war criminals became public, but there was minimal controversy about the issue for several years.<ref name="nippon1125" /> No Emperor of Japan has visited Yasukuni since 1975.

The head-priest Junna Nakata at Honzen-ji Temple (of the Shingon sect Daigo-ha) requested the pontiff Pope Paul VI to say a Mass for the repose of the souls of all people in Yasukuni, which would include the 1,618 men condemned as Class A, B and C war criminals, and he promised to do so. In 1980, Pope John Paul II complied, and a Mass was held in St. Peter's Basilica for all the fallen civilians and fallen dead worshiped in the shrine.<ref name="Breen" />

Statements by the shrine museumEdit

The museum and website of the Yasukuni Shrine have made statements criticizing the United States for "convincing" the Empire of Japan to launch the attack on Pearl Harbor in order to justify the Pacific War, as well as claiming that Japan went to war with the intention of creating a "Co-Prosperity Sphere" for all Asians.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

ChronologyEdit

<ref name="books.google.com">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="hyakunenshi">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=nenpyo/>See details on related controversy in Controversies surrounding Yasukuni Shrine.

File:King Rama VII and his suite visit to the Yasukuni Shrine.jpg
King of Thailand, King Rama VII (Prajadhipok)'s visit to the Yasukuni Shrine, May 1931
File:Charles Lindbergh and his wife visit to the Yasukuni Shrine.jpg
Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh visiting Yasukuni Shrine, October 1931
File:French Navy personnel visit to the Yasukuni Shrine in 1930s.jpg
French Navy officers' visit to Yasukuni Shrine, May 1933
File:US Navy personnel visit to the Yasukuni Shrine in 1930s.jpg
The United States Navy officers' visit to Yasukuni Shrine, July 1933
File:German Navy personnel visit to the Yasukuni Shrine in 1930s.jpg
German Navy officers' visit to Yasukuni Shrine, March 1937
File:Hitlerjugend visit to Yasukuni Shrine State Shintō wreath procession kannushi 1938.jpg
Hitler Youth visit to Yasukuni Shrine, October 1938
File:Eirei ni kotaeru Kai members.jpg
Eirei ni kotaeru Kai (Society for Honoring the Glorious War Dead) members, August 2001
  • 1862
  • 1868
    • January — (Tenpō calendar): The Boshin War started and continued until May, 1869 (Tenpō calendar)
    • April 20 — (Tenpō calendar): The tasshi (proclamation) by the Template:Nihongo (Tōkaidō spearhead governor) ordered the creation of a list of the war dead.
    • April 28 (Tenpō calendar): The tasshi by the Tōkaidō Senpō Sōtokufu decided to hold Template:Nihongo
    • May 10 (Tenpō calendar): The Dajokan Fukoku (Proclamation or Decree by the Grand Council of State) ordered the enshrinement of the war dead at Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto (Current Kyoto Ryozen Gokoku Shrine).
    • May 28 (Tenpō calendar): The tasshi by the Template:Nihongo (Administrative officers) ordered submission of the list of the war dead to Template:Nihongo (Bureau of Rites)
    • June 2 (Tenpō calendar): The Shōkonsai was held at Nishi-no-maru ōhiroma of Edo Castle
    • July 8 (Tenpō calendar): The tasshi by the Template:Nihongo (Bureau of Rites) ordered the holding of the Shōkonsai.
    • July 10–11 (Tenpō calendar): The Shōkonsai was held at the Template:Nihongo in Kyoto.
  • 1869
    • July 12 (Tenpō calendar): The tasshi by the Gunmukan ordered the establishment of Tōkyō Shōkonsha
    • July 29: The establishment of Tōkyō Shōkonsha: Emperor Meiji gave Tōkyō Shōkonsha an estate worth 5000 koku (nominally 10,000 koku) as Template:Nihongo.
    • July: The 1st Template:Nihongo (a festival held for enshrining the war dead together) (Number of newly enshrined: 3,588)
  • 1870: The Shōkonsha horse trackrace was established as the first Japanese racetrack in the country along the outside of the shrine approach
  • 1872 May 10 (Tenpo calendar): The establishment of the honden
  • 1874
    • February: The Japanese invasion of Taiwan (1874)
    • Emperor Meiji paid respect at the Yasukuni shrine. Since then, royal visit had been paid intermittently until 1975
    • August: The 2nd Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 192)
    • November: The 3rd Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 16)
  • 1875
    • February 22: Template:Nihongo
    • February: The 4th Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 12)
    • July: 5th Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 1)
  • 1876 January: The 6th Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 1)
  • 1877
    • January: The 7th Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 131)
    • February: Seinan War
    • November 14: Rinjisai
    • November: The 8th Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 6,505)
  • 1878
    • July: The 9th Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 160)
    • November: The 10th Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 4)
  • 1879
    • June 4: The shrine was registered to Bekkaku-kanpeisya and renamed Yasukuni shrine by Dajōan.
    • June: The 11th Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 266)
  • 1882
    • February: The inauguration of Yūshūkan military and war museum
    • November: The 12th Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 12)
  • 1883 May: The 13th Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 80)
  • 1884 November: The 14th Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 47)
  • 1885 May: The 15th Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 6)
  • 1888
    • May: The 16th Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 607)
    • November: The 17th Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 18)
  • 1889
    • May: The 18th Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 1,460)
    • November: The 19th Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 61)
  • 1891 November: The 20th Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 1,272)
  • 1893 November: The 21st Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 80)
  • 1894 August: The First Sino-Japanese War started and continued until April 1895.
  • 1895
    • November 17: Template:Nihongo
    • November: The 22nd Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 1,496)
  • 1896
    • May 6: Rinjitaisai
    • May: The 23rd Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 143)
    • November: The 24th Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 97)
  • 1898
    • November 5: Rinjitaisai
    • November: The 25th Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 11,383)
    • : The closure of the horse racetrack
  • 1899
    • May: The 26th Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 340)
    • November: The 27th Gōshisai (Number of newly enshineed: 83)
  • 1900
    • May: The 28th Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 35)
    • May: The Boxer Rebellion (to September)
  • 1901
    • October 31: Rinjitaisai
    • October: The establishment of the haiden
    • November: 29th Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 1,282)
  • 1904
    • February: The Russo-Japanese War (until September 1904)
    • May: The 30th Rinjitaisai
    • May: The 31st Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 30,883)
  • 1906
    • May 2: Rinjitaisai
    • May: The 32nd Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 29,960)
  • 1907
    • May 3: Rinjitaisai
    • May: The 33rd Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 24,657)
  • 1908
    • May 5: Rinjitaisai
    • May: The 34th Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 1,943)
  • 1909
    • May 5: Rinjitaisai
    • May: The 35th Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 817)
  • 1910
    • May 5: Rinjitaisai
    • May: The 36th Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 141)
  • 1911
    • May 5: Rinjitaisai
    • May: The 37th Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 631, Total: 118,499)
  • 1914 July: World War I (to October 1918)
  • 1919 May: The festival marking the 50th anniversary of the foundation
  • 1920 March: The Nikolayevsk Incident
  • 1923 September: The Great Kanto earthquake
  • 1928 May: The Jinan Incident
  • 1931 March: The Template:Nihongo of the Fukuba family was transferred to inside the Yasukuni precinct as Motomiya.
  • 1932: The incident between Sophia University (Jochi Daigaku) and the Yasukuni Shrine occurred, when a student refused visit to the Yasukuni shrine with the rest of the school on the ground that it was contrary to his religious convictions.<ref name="A. Hamish Ion"/>
  • 1936: The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (Propaganda Fide) of the Roman Curia issued the Instruction Pluries Instanterque,<ref name="Pluries"/> and approved visit to the Yasukuni shrine as an expression of patriotic motive<ref name="Breen"/>
  • 1938 April: Establishment of the new Shōkonsaitei
  • 1937 July: The Second Sino-Japanese War
  • 1941 December 8: Pacific War (continued to 1945)
  • 1945
    • August 15: Emperor Shōwa gave a recorded radio address across the Empire on August 15. In the radio address, called the Gyokuon-hōsō, he announced the surrender of Japan to the Allies.
    • October: The General Headquarters (GHQ) planned to burn down the Yasukuni Shrine and build a dog race course in its place.<ref name="Deities at Yasukuni Shrine"/> However, Father Bruno Bitter of the Roman Curia and Father Patrick Byrne of Maryknoll insisted to GHQ that honoring their war dead is the right and duty of citizens everywhere, and GHQ decided not to destroy the Yasukuni shrine.<ref name="Breen"/>
    • November 19: Rinji Dai-Shōkonsai
    • December: The Shinto Directive
  • 1946
    • May 1: The 67th Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 26,969)
    • September: Yasukuni Shrine was registered as a Religious Corporation of Japan.
  • 1947
    • The Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 59,337)
    • July 13: The 1st Mitama Matsuri。
  • 1951
    • April 3: The enforcement of the Religious Corporation Act
    • October 18: The first Reitaisai after WWII
    • The Roman Curia reconfirmed the Instruction Pluries Instanterque<ref name="Pluries"/><ref name="Breen"/>
  • 1952 April 28: The Treaty of San Francisco came into force.
  • 1955
    • August 14: A memorial service was held for 540 suicide victims after the end of the Pacific war.
    • October 17: Rinjitaisai
  • 1956: Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 112,609)
  • 1957: Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 470,010)
  • 1958: Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 217,536)
  • 1959
    • April 8: Rinjitaisai
    • April: Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 346 dead including the class B and C war criminals who died from the death sentence execution)
    • October 4: Gōshisai (Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa and Prince Nagahisa Kitashirakawa)
    • October: Gōshisai (Number of newly enshrined: 479 dead including the class B and C war criminals who died from the death sentence execution)
    • November 5: Taisai (festival) marking the 90th anniversary of the foundation
  • 1960 August 15: Template:Nihongo (the memorial service to honor the war dead in the Asia-Pacific War)
  • 1964 August 15: Holding of a government-sponsored memorial ceremony for Japan's war dead (the ceremony has been held at the Budokan since 1965)
  • 1965
    • July: The establishment of Chinreisha
    • October 19: Rinjitaisai
  • 1969 October 19: The Taisai (annual main festival) marking the 100th anniversary of the foundation was held, and the Template:Nihongo (Collection of literary remains of the war dead in the Greater East Asia War (Pacific War) was issued as a commemorative publication in 1973.
  • 1972 March 13: The establishment of Template:Nihongo
  • 1975
    • August 15: Takeo Miki became the first prime minister to visit the shrine on August 15, the anniversary of the Japanese surrender. He visited in a solely private capacity and underscored this by not using an official vehicle, bringing other public officials or using his title as prime minister. Similar visits continued without arousing international protests even after the enshrinement of war criminals became publicly known.
    • November 21: Emperor Shōwa visited the Yasukuni shrine. Since then, there has not been another imperial visit to the shrine because of his displeasure over the enshrinement of convicted war criminals.<ref name=":0" />
    • The head-priest at the Honsenji (the Shingon sect Daigo-ha) Junna Nakata hoped that the pontiff Pope Paul VI might say a Mass for the repose of the souls of the 1,618 men condemned as Class A, B and C war criminals, and the Pope promised to say the Mass requested of him but died in 1978 without saying the Mass.<ref name="Breen"/>
  • 1976 June 22: The establishment of the Template:Nihongo (Society for Honoring the Glorious War Dead)
  • 1978 October 17: Gōshisai was held to enshrine 14 dead who died from the death penalty execution of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East or died in connection with the Tribunal. Since then, the Yasukuni shrine has used the designation Template:Nihongo (Martyrs of Shōwa).
  • 1980
    • May 22: Pope John Paul II kept Pope Paul VI's word, and the Mass for the fallen civilians and fallen dead worshiped in the shrine including the unofficial 1,618 war criminals of Classes A, B and C took place in St. Peter's Basilica. Nakata attended the Mass, and presented the Pope with an eight-foot high replica of the Daigoji temple's five-story pagoda; inside the replica were memorial tablets Nakata had personally made for all 1,618 war criminals. The Pope blessed the replica pagoda but took no special interest in it.<ref name="Breen"/>
    • November 16: The establishment of Template:Nihongo
  • 1985
    • August 15: Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone paid his respects at the Yasukuni shrine, which initiated criticism by People's Republic of China for the first time. The criticism of Nakasone's action was so intense that neither he nor his several immediate successors visited the shrine again.
    • September: The 80th anniversary commemorating and honoring the Russo-Japanese War dead (Template:Nihongo2)
  • 1989 January: Taisai (festival) marking the 120th anniversary of the foundation
  • 1996 Prime minister Ryutaro Hashimoto paid his respects at the Yasukuni shrine in order to fulfill a promise to a childhood mentor.<ref name="zakowski">Template:Cite journal</ref>
  • 1998 December: The disbandment of Template:Nihongo and reorganization of Template:Nihongo
  • 2001
    • July 18: The Asahi Shimbun reported that the South Korean government was reclaiming spirit tablets of Korean enshrined in the Yasukuni shrine even though Yasukuni shrine houses only Template:Nihongo (Former Template:Nihongo) and spirit tablets do not exist.
    • August 13: Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who ran against Ryutaro Hashimoto for the presidency of the Liberal Democratic Party in 2001, made a campaign pledge to visit the shrine on an annual basis regardless of the criticism it would cause, which won him support among nationalists and helped him become prime minister from 2001 to 2006. He paid his respect at the Yasukuni shrine on August 13, 2001, as a Prime Minister for the first time in 5 years since the last Hashimoto's visit. This and following Koizumi's annual visits drew extensive criticism from other East-Asian countries,<ref name="nippon1125" /> particularly the People's Republic of China, where the visits stoked anti-Japanese sentiment and influenced power struggles between pro-Japanese and anti-Japanese leaders within the Chinese Communist Party.<ref name="zakowski" /> The Japanese government officially viewed the visits by Koizumi as private visits in an individual capacity to express respect and gratitude to the many people who lost their lives in the war, and not for the sake of war criminals or to challenge the findings of the Tokyo war crimes tribunal.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • 2002
    • April 21: Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi paid respect at the Yasukuni shrine.
    • July 13: The inauguration of the current Yūshūkan
  • 2003 January 14: Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi paid respect at the Yasukuni shrine.
  • 2004
    • January 1: Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi paid respect at the Yasukuni shrine.
    • September: The establishment of new "Sanshūden"
  • 2005
    • January 5: A Yasukuni shrine official said "the shrine has come under intense cyber attack, with its Web site barraged by e-mails believed to come from China since September 2004." The shrine also said on its official web site "These attacks on the Yasukuni Shrine can be taken as not only attacks on the 2.5 million souls who gave their lives for the sake of the country but are also a malicious challenge to Japan. We would like to let the people [of Japan] know the Yasukuni Shrine is under attack, which is a dirty act of terrorism that negates the order of Internet technology and society."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

    • June 14: About fifty relatives of the war dead of Taiwan visited the Yasukuni shrine for the ceremony to remove spirits of Taiwanese Aboriginal soldiers, but canceled it due to sound trucks (gaisensha, Template:Nihongo2) and requests from the police.
    • October 12: A brief ceremony attended by priests of the Yasukuni shrine, representatives of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and officials from the embassy of South Korea was held, and the Pukkwan Victory Monument Template:Nihongo was turned over to officials from South Korea, who returned it to its original location, which is now in North Korea.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

    • October 17: Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi paid respect at the Yasukuni shrine.
  • 2006
    • August 15: Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi paid respect at the Yasukuni shrine on August 15 (End of the Pacific War Day) for the first time in 21 years since Former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone's visit on August 15.
    • October 12: The Motomiya and Chinreisha became open to the public (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.)
  • 2007 June 7: Former leader of Taiwan Lee Teng-Hui paid respect at the Yasukuni shrine to honor his senior brother who died as a Japanese soldier.
  • 2008 December 24: The Yasukuni official website was cracked by unknown hackers, the homepage content replaced, and the China national flag appeared once during this time.
  • 2009 August 11: The Republic of China (Taiwan) Legislative Yuan Aboriginal Atayal member Ciwas Ali and about 50 other Taiwanese Aboriginal members protested in front of the haiden of Yasukuni Shrine in an effort to remove the enshrined spirits of Taiwanese Aboriginal soldiers who died fighting for the Japanese army during Pacific War,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> as well as suing Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi for visiting Yasukuni Shrine, and injured Yasukuni officers; then Japanese police officers were dispatched.
  • 2010 August 15: Longstanding official visit to the Yasukuni shrine by the ministers of state discontinued until 2012.
  • 2011
  • 2013
    • April: The Minister of Finance Tarō Asō, the National Public Safety Commission Keiji Furuya, the Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications Yoshitaka Shindo, and the Minister of State for Regulatory Reform Tomomi Inada paid their respects at the Yasukuni shrine during an annual spring festival ceremony.
    • August 15: Three cabinet members, Keiji Furuya, Yoshitaka Shindo, and Tomomi Inada, paid their respects at the Yasukuni shrine.
    • September 21: A Korean resident of Japan threatened to commit arson at Yasukuni shrine, and was arrested by Police.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref>

    • December 26: Prime Minister Shinzō Abe made a visit to Yasukuni Shrine and Chinreisha.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> The visit sparked admonition from the Chinese government, which called Abe's visits to Yasukuni "an effort to glorify the Japanese militaristic history of external invasion and colonial rule ... and to challenge the outcome of World War II," as well as regret from Russia.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The US embassy in Tokyo said it was disappointed with Abe's actions and that his visit would exacerbate tensions with Japan's neighbours.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The United States urged Japan to improve strained relations with neighboring countries in the aftermath of Abe's controversial visit to Yasukuni Shrine.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> South Korea's culture minister, Yoo Jin-ryong, criticized Abe by saying that his visit "hurts not only the ties between South Korea and Japan, but also fundamentally damages the stability and co-operation in north-east Asia."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In an official statement, Abe explained that he wished to "report before the souls of the war dead how my administration has worked for one year and to renew the pledge that Japan must never wage a war again. It is not my intention at all to hurt the feelings of the Chinese and Korean people."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • 2014
    • January: A poll by the conservative-leaning Sankei Shimbun found that only 38.1% of respondents approved of the most recent visit by Abe, while 53% disapproved, a majority of whom cited harm to Japan's foreign relations as their reason. At the same time, 67.7% of respondents said they were not personally convinced by Chinese and Korean criticism of the visit.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, another poll in 2015 by Genron NPO found that 15.7% of respondents disapproved of visits in general by Prime Ministers while 66% of respondents saw no problem, particularly if they were done in private (which was a decrease from 68.2% the year before).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

    • April: Canadian singer Justin Bieber paid a visit to the war shrine. After coming under heavy criticism from Chinese and South Korean fans, he apologized for posting a photo of his visit, claiming to have not known about the background surrounding the shrine.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref>

    • August 15: Three cabinet ministers visited the shrine to mark the 69th anniversary of the surrender of Japan in World War II. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe however chose not to.<ref name="AbeAbsence">Template:Cite news</ref>
  • 2015
    • November 23: An explosion at a public toilet in the war shrine caused some damage to the ceiling and wall of the bathroom near the south gate of the shrine<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
  • 2018
    • Chinese actor Zhang Zhehan took photos of himself posing in front of cherry blossom trees back in March 2018. He followed the Sakura route suggested by state sponsored news agencies such as People's Network.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> In August 2021, the background architecture of one of the photos was recognized as Saikan (office area of the Shrine). After the photos became viral and sparked outrage in China, Zhang issued an apology. However, multiple media agencies and majority of people still accused him of betrayal to the national dignity.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The photos resulted in 22 brands terminating their endorsements of Zhang. His upcoming films and television shows also terminated all of their associations with him. The China Association of Performing Arts (CAPA) then called for a total entertainment ban on Zhang. Several Chinese music and streaming platforms removed his music, television and film works. Chinese social media platforms Sina Weibo and TikTok deleted his studio and personal accounts.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

    • October 31: Chief priest resigns following his criticism against Emperor.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref>

Annual celebrationsEdit

File:Yasukuni Mitama Night.JPG
The Mitama Festival at Yasukuni Shrine
File:Yasukuni Mitama Lanterns.JPG
Yasukuni Mitama Lanterns
File:YasukuniJinja 23November.JPG
Haiden with purple curtains in the Niinamesai

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Enshrined deitiesEdit

There are over 2,466,000 enshrined kami (deities) listed in the Yasukuni's Symbolic Registry of Divinities. This list includes soldiers, as well as women and students who were involved in relief operations in the battlefield or worked in factories for the war effort.<ref name="deities"/> There are neither ashes nor spirit tablets in the shrine. Enshrinement is not exclusive to people of Japanese descent. Yasukuni has enshrined 27,863 Taiwanese and 21,181 Koreans.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Many more kami – those who fought in opposition to imperial Japan, as well as all war dead regardless of nationality – are enshrined at Chinreisha.<ref name="chinreisha">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Eligible categoriesEdit

As a general rule, the enshrined are limited to military personnel who were killed while serving Japan during armed conflicts. Civilians who were killed during a war are not included, apart from a handful of exceptions. A deceased must fall into one of the following categories for enshrinement in the honden:

  1. Military personnel, and civilians serving for the military, who were:
    • killed in action, or died as a result of wounds or illnesses sustained while on duty outside the Home Islands (and within the Home Islands after September 1931)
    • missing and presumed to have died as a result of wounds or illnesses sustained while on duty
    • died as a result of war crime tribunals which have been ratified by the San Francisco Peace Treaty
  2. Civilians who participated in combat under the military and died from resulting wounds or illnesses (includes residents of Okinawa)
  3. Civilians who died, or are presumed to have died, in Soviet labor camps during and after the war
  4. Civilians who were officially mobilized or volunteered (such as factory workers, mobilized students, Japanese Red Cross nurses and anti air-raid volunteers) who were killed while on duty
  5. Crew who were killed aboard Merchant Navy vessels
  6. Crew who were killed due to the sinking of exchange ships (e.g. Awa Maru)
  7. Okinawan schoolchildren evacuees who were killed (e.g. the sinking of Tsushima Maru)
  8. Officials of the governing bodies of Karafuto Prefecture, Kwantung Leased Territory, Governor-General of Korea and Governor-General of Taiwan

Although new names of soldiers killed during World War II are added to the shrine list every year, no one who was killed due to conflicts after Japan signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty that formally ended World War II in 1951 has been qualified for enshrinement. Therefore, Yasukuni Shrine enshrines individuals who died in service before Japan’s postwar Self-Defense Forces were established, meaning no post-1951 personnel are included.

Enshrinement is carried out unilaterally by the shrine without consultation of surviving family members and in some cases against the stated wishes of the family members. Some families, particularly from South Korea, have petitioned for the removal of their relatives' names, arguing that enshrinement contradicts their loved ones' beliefs.<ref name="numbers">Template:Cite news</ref>

ConflictsEdit

Japan has participated in 16 other conflicts since the Boshin War in 1869. The following table chronologically lists the number of people enshrined as kami at the honden (as of October 17, 2004) from each of these conflicts.

Conflict Description Year(s) Number of enshrined Notes
Boshin War and Meiji Restoration Japanese civil war 1867–1869 7,751 citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

Satsuma Rebellion Japanese civil war 1877 6,971 <ref name="number"/>
Taiwan Expedition of 1874 Conflict with Paiwan people (Taiwanese aborigines) 1874 1,130 <ref name="number"/>
Ganghwa Island incident Conflict with Joseon Army 1875 2 <ref name="number"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Imo Incident Conflict with Joseon Rebel Army over Korea 1882 14 citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

CitationClass=web

}}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

Gapsin Coup a failed 3-day coup d'état in the late Joseon Dynasty of Korea 1884 6 citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

First Sino-Japanese War Conflict with Qing China over Korea 1894–95 13,619 <ref name="number"/>
Boxer Uprising Eight-Nation Alliance's invasion of China 1901 1,256 <ref name="number"/>
Russo-Japanese War Conflict with Russian Empire over Korea and Manchuria 1904–05 88,429 <ref name="number"/>
World War I Conflict with German Empire (Central Powers) over Mediterranean Sea and Shandong, a Chinese province 1914–1918 4,850 <ref name="number"/>
Battle of Qingshanli Conflict with the Korean Independence Army over Korea 1920 11 <ref name="number"/>
Jinan Incident Conflict with the Kuomintang of China over Jinan, the capital of Shandong province 1928 185 <ref name="number"/>
Musha Incident The last major Aboriginal uprising against colonial Japanese forces in Taiwan 1930 Unknown <ref name="number"/>
Nakamura Incident The extrajudicial killing of Imperial Japanese Army Captain Shintarō Nakamura and three others, on 27 June 1931 by Chinese soldiers in Manchuria 1931 19 citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

Mukden Incident Leading to the occupation of Manchuria 1931–1937 17,176 citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

Second Sino-Japanese War Conflict with China 1937–1941 191,250 <ref name="number"/><ref name="breen"/>
World War II Pacific theatre
(including Indochina War<ref name="igawa">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation 		CitationClass=web

}}</ref>)

Conflict with the Allied forces and involvement in the Pacific theater (including Class A, B, & C War Criminals, and Forced labor of Japanese in the Soviet Union)
(Conflict with France<ref name="igawa"/>) 		1941–1945
1945– 		2,133,915 <ref name="number"/><ref name="breen"/>
  Total 2,466,584 <ref name="number"/>

The shrine enshrines those who fought on behalf of the imperial government but does not include members of the Tokugawa shogunate forces or rebel factions from the Boshin War and Satsuma Rebellion. They are enshrined at Chinreisha.<ref name="chinreisha"/>

PrecinctEdit

File:Yasukuni shrine honden.jpg
Yasukuni Shrine's haiden

There are a multitude of facilities within the 6.25 hectare grounds of the shrine, as well as several structures along the 4 hectare causeway. Though other shrines in Japan also occupy large areas, Yasukuni is different because of its recent historical connections. The Yūshūkan museum is just the feature that differentiate Yasukuni from other Shinto shrines. The following lists describe many of these facilities and structures.

Shrine structuresEdit

On the shrine grounds, there are several important religious structures. The shrine's haiden, Yasukuni's main prayer hall where worshipers come to pray, was originally built in 1901 in styles of Irimoya-zukuri, Hirairi, and Doubanbuki (copper roofing) in order to allow patrons to pay their respects and make offerings. This building's roof was renovated in 1989. The white screens hanging off the ceiling are changed to purple ones on ceremonial occasions.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The honden is the main shrine where Yasukuni's enshrined deities reside. Built in 1872 and refurbished in 1989, it is where the shrine's priests perform Shinto rituals. The building is generally closed to the public.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The building located on the right side of haiden is the Template:Nihongo (Assembly Hall), which was rebuilt in 2004. Reception and waiting rooms are available for individuals and groups who wish to worship in the Main Shrine.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The building located directly behind the Sanshuden is the Template:Nihongo (Reception Hall).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The building located directly behind the honden is known as the Template:Nihongo (Repository for the Symbolic Registers of Divinities) built in styles of Kirizuma-zukuri, Hirairi, and Doubanbuki. It houses the Template:Nihongo—a handmade Japanese paper document that lists the names of all the kami enshrined and worshiped at Yasukuni Shrine. It was built of quakeproof concrete in 1972 with a private donation from Emperor Shōwa.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In addition to Yasukuni's main shrine buildings, there are also two peripheral shrines located on the precinct. Template:Nihongo is a small shrine that was first established in Kyoto by sympathizers of the imperial loyalists that were killed during the early weeks of the civil war that erupted during the Meiji Restoration. Seventy years later, in 1931, it was moved directly south of Yasukuni Shrine's honden. Its name, Motomiya ("Original Shrine"), references the fact that it was essentially a prototype for the current Yasukuni Shrine.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The second peripheral shrine is the Chinreisha. This small shrine was constructed in 1965, directly south of the Motomiya. It is dedicated to those not enshrined in the honden—those killed by wars or incidents worldwide, regardless of nationality. It has a festival on July 13.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Torii and Mon (gates)Edit

There are several different torii and Template:Nihongo gates located on both the causeway and shrine grounds. When moving through the grounds from east to west, the first torii visitors encounter is the Daiichi Torii (Ōtorii). This large steel structure was the largest torii in Japan when it was first erected in 1921 to mark the main entrance to the shrine.<ref name="pf130">Ponsonby-Fane, p. 130.</ref> It stands approximately 25 meters tall and 34 meters wide and is the first torii. The current iteration of this torii was erected in 1974 after the original was removed in 1943 due to weather damage. This torii was recently repainted.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The Daini Torii (Seidō Ōtorii) is the second torii encountered on the westward walk to the shrine. It was erected in 1887 to replace a wooden one which had been erected earlier.<ref name="pf130"/> This is the largest bronze torii in Japan.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Immediately following the Daini Torii is the Template:Nihongo. A 6-meter tall hinoki cypress gate, it was first built in 1934 and restored in 1994. Each of its two doors bears a Chrysanthemum Crest measuring 1.5 meters in diameter.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> West of this gate is the Template:Nihongo (Third Shrine Gate), the last torii visitors must pass underneath before reaching Yasukuni's haiden. It was recently rebuilt of cypress harvested in Saitama Prefecture in 2006.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In addition to the three torii and one gate that lead to the main shrine complex, there are a few others that mark other entrances to the shrine grounds. The Ishi Torii is a large stone torii located on the south end of the main causeway. It was erected in 1932 and marks the entrance to the parking lots.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Kitamon and Minamimon are two areas that mark the north and south entrances, respectively, into the Yasukuni Shrine complex. The Minamimon is marked by a small wooden gateway.

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MemorialsEdit

  • Irei no Izumi (Soul-Comforting Spring): This modern looking monument is a spring dedicated to those who suffered from or died of thirst in battle.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Statue of War Widow with Children: This statue honors the mothers who raised children in the absence of fathers lost at war. It was donated to the shrine in 1974 by these mothers' children.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Statue of Kamikaze Pilot: A bronze statue representing a kamikaze pilot stands to the left of the Yūshūkan's entrance. A small plaque to the left of the statue was donated by the Tokkōtai Commemoration Peace Memorial Association in 2005. It lists the 5,843 men who died while executing suicide attacks against Allied naval vessels in World War II.
  • Statue of Ōmura Masujirō: Created by Okuma Ujihiro in 1893, this statue is Japan's first Western-style bronze statue. It honors Ōmura Masujirō, a man who is known as the "Father of the Modern Japanese Army."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Template:Multiple image

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> On April 29, 2005, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told his counterpart Koizumi Junichiro that "the dissenting judgement of Justice Radha Binod Pal is well known to the Japanese people and will always symbolise the affection and regard our people have for your country."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Statues honoring horses, carrier pigeons and dogs killed in war service: These three life-sized bronze statues were all donated at different times during the second half of the 20th century. The first of the three that was donated, the horse statue was placed at the Yasukuni Shrine in 1958 to honor the memory of the horses that were utilized by the Japanese military. Presented in 1982, the statue depicting a pigeon atop a globe honors the homing pigeons of the military. The last statue, donated in March 1992, depicts a German shepherd and commemorates the soldiers' canine comrades.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> Opened, full bottles of water are often left at these statues.

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Other buildings and structuresEdit

File:YasukuniJinsha-Entry01 1991.jpg
Syagō Hyō
File:Yasukuni Shirine Nogakudo 01.jpg
Nōgakudo
File:Yasukuni Shirine Nogakudo 03.jpg
The nameboard of Nōgakudo
File:Yasukuni Yushukan.JPG
The entrance to the Yūshūkan

(from Kudanshita Station)

File:Shokonsaitei.jpg
Shōkonsaitei
File:行雲亭.jpg
Kōuntei

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  • Dovecote (shirohato kyusha): Almost 300 white doves live and are bred in a special dovecote located on the grounds of Yasukuni Shrine.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Template:Nihongo (North gate)
  • Nōgakudo (Noh Theater): Originally built in Shiba Park, Tokyo in 1881, and moved to Yasukuni Shrine in 1903. Noh dramas and traditional Japanese dance are performed on its stage in honor of the resident divinities.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Template:Nihongo (Yasukuni Archives): Opened on October 7, 1999, archives more than 100,000 volumes including reference material that describes the circumstances under which the divinities enshrined in Yasukuni Shrine died, as well as source material for research on modern history.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Yūshūkan: Originally built in 1882, this museum is located to the north of the main hall. Its name is taken from a saying – "a virtuous man always selects to associate with virtuous people."<ref>Ponsonby-Fane, pp. 131–132.</ref> The building was repaired and expanded in 2002. The museum is a facility to stores and exhibit relics,<ref name=yushukan>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> and it also houses the weaponry of the Imperial Japanese Navy, notably including a Zero Fighter plane and Kaiten suicide torpedo. The museum has come into great controversy owing to its revisionist depiction of Japanese history, particularly of the militarist period from 1931 to 1945, in which it is perceived as denying Japanese war crimes and glorifying Japan's militarist past.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

  • Shinchi Teien (Template:Nihongo2): This Japanese style strolling garden was created in the early Meiji Era. Its centerpiece is a small waterfall located in a serene pond. It was refurbished in 1999.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Sumo Ring (Template:Nihongo): In 1869, a sumo wrestling exhibition was held at Yasukuni Shrine in order to celebrate the shrine's establishment.<ref>Ponsonby-Fane, p. 129.</ref> Since then, exhibitions involving many professional sumo wrestlers, including several grand champions (yokozuna) take place at the Spring Festival almost every year. The matches are free of charge.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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|CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Kōuntei is used as a tea ceremony school room by the Urasenke from Monday to Saturday, and was used for manufacturing the Yasukuni (Kudan) sword before World War II.

List of priestsEdit

<ref name="books.google.com"/><ref name="hyakunenshi"/><ref name=nenpyo/>

Guji (chief priests): term of officeEdit

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  • Template:Nihongo: 15 June 2009 – 19 January 2013<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Template:Nihongo: 19 January 2013 – 28 February 2018<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> (a great-grandson of Yoshinobu Tokugawa, the last Tokugawa shogun)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Gon-guji (associate chief priests): term of officeEdit

OrganizationEdit

Yasukuni shrine is an individual religious corporation and does not belong to the Association of Shinto Shrines.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Yasukuni shrine has departments listed below. The Template:Nihongo controls the overall system, and the Template:Nihongo assists the Gūji.<ref name="hyakunenshi" />




Cultural referencesEdit

Bank notesEdit

  • 1942–1948: Empire of Japan 50 sen banknote
  • Yasukuni 75Th.JPG

    Japanese 7 sen stamp depicting Yasukuni Shrine's honden

  • Japanese government small-face-value paper money 50 Sen (Yasukuni Shrine) - front.jpg

    Empire of Japan 50 sen banknote with Yasukuni Shrine

Postage stampsEdit

File:Yasukuni.JPG
Japanese 17 sen (1943), 27 sen (1945) and 1 yen (1946) stamps which depict the Yasukuni Shrine's Torii and honden
  • Japanese 17 sen stamp (1943)
  • Japanese 27 sen stamp (1945)
  • Japanese 1 yen stamp (1946)

Scenic postmarksEdit

Popular musicEdit

PlaysEdit

BooksEdit

File:Hiroshige III, Big French circus on the grounds of Shokonsha shrine, 1871.jpg
French circus on the grounds of Shokonsha shrine, 1871

PostersEdit

  • 1871: Template:Nihongo (Big French circus on the grounds of Shokonsha (Yasukuni) shrine)

SwordsEdit

In 1933, Minister of War Sadao Araki founded the Template:Nihongo in the grounds of the shrine to preserve old forging methods and promote Japan's samurai traditions, as well as to meet the huge demand for guntō (military swords) for officers.Template:Citation needed About 8,100 "Yasukuni swords" were manufactured in the grounds of the Yasukuni Shrine between 1933 and 1945.Template:Citation needed

  • 靖国刀（九段刀）刀身と拵え（外装）.jpg

    Yasukuni (Kudan) sword (inscription: Yasuhiro)

  • Yasuhiro.jpg

    The center of Yasukuni (Kudan) sword (inscription: Yasuhiro)

ControversiesEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}


See alsoEdit

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ReferencesEdit

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SourcesEdit

  • Nelson, John. "Social Memory as Ritual Practice: Commemorating Spirits of the Military Dead at Yasukuni Shinto Shrine". Journal of Asian Studies 62, 2 (May 2003): 445–467.
  • Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1963). Vicissitudes of Shinto. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 36655
  • Pye, Michael: "Religion and Conflict in Japan with Special Reference to Shinto and Yasukuni Shrine". Diogenes 50:3 (2003), S. 45–59.
  • Saaler, Sven: Politics, Memory and Public Opinion: The History Textbook Controversy and Japanese Society. München: Iudicium, 2005. Template:ISBN.
  • Shirk, Susan L. China: Fragile Superpower: How China's Internal Politics Could Derail Its Peaceful Rise. Oxford University Press, US. 2007. Template:ISBN.

Further readingEdit

  • Breen, John. "The Dead and the Living in the Land of Peace: A Sociology of the Yasukuni Shrine". Mortality 9, 1 (February 2004): 76–93.
  • Breen, John. Yasukuni, the War Dead and the Struggle for Japan's Past. Columbia University Press, 2008. Template:ISBN.
  • Nelson, John. "Social Memory as Ritual Practice: Commemorating Spirits of the Military Dead at Yasukuni Shinto Shrine". Journal of Asian Studies 62, 2 (May 2003): 445–467.
  • Template:Cite book
  • Template:Cite book
Regarding its controversy
  • Ijiri, Hidenori. "Sino-Japanese Controversies since the 1972 Diplomatic Normalization". China Quarterly 124 (Dec 1990): 639–661.
  • Shibuichi, Daiki. "The Yasukuni Dispute and the Politics of Identity of Japan: Why All the Fuss?" Asian Survey 45, 2 (March–April 2005): 197–215.
  • Tamamoto, Masaru. "A Land Without Patriots: The Yasukuni Controversy and Japanese Nationalism". World Policy Journal 18, 3 (Fall 2001): 33–40.
  • Yang, Daqing. "Mirror for the Future of the History Card? Understanding the 'History Problem'" in Chinese-Japanese Relations in the Twenty-first Century: Complementarity and Conflict, edited by Marie Söderberg, 10–31. New York: Routledge, 2002.

External linksEdit

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