is a Shinto shrine located in

Chiyoda, Tokyo is a special ward located in central Tokyo, Japan. It is known as Chiyoda City in English.Profile< ...

Emperor Meiji , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figur ...

in June 1869 and commemorates those who died in service of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

, from the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...

of 1868–1869, to the two Sino-Japanese Wars, 1894–1895 and 1937–1945 respectively, and the First Indochina War of 1946–1954, including war criminals. 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 Shōwa may refer to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufacturer, affiliated with the Honda keiretsu Japanese eras * Jōwa (Heian ...

. The shrine lists the names, origins, birthdates, and places of death of 2,466,532 men, women, children, and various pet animals. Among those are 1,068 convicted war criminals, 14 of whom are A-Class (convicted of having been involved in the planning, preparation, initiation, or waging of the war). This has led to many controversies surrounding the shrine. Another memorial at the

Honden In Shinto shrine architecture, the , also called , or sometimes as in Ise Shrine's case, is the most sacred building at a Shinto shrine, intended purely for the use of the enshrined ''kami'', usually symbolized by a mirror or sometimes by a s ...

(main hall) building commemorates anyone who died on behalf of Japan, and so includes

Koreans Koreans ( South Korean: , , North Korean: , ; see names of Korea) are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Korean Peninsula. Koreans mainly live in the two Korean nation states: North Korea and South Korea (collectively and simply r ...

and

Taiwanese Taiwanese may refer to: * Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien * Something from or related to Taiwan (Formosa) * Taiwanese aborigines, the indigenous people of Taiwan * Han Taiwanese, the Han people of Taiwan * Taiwanese people, r ...

who served Japan at the time. In addition, the

Chinreisha is a small wooden Shinto shrine located directly south of Yasukuni Shrine's honden (main shrine) in Yasukuni Shrine precinct. It was built in 1965 after a proposition by Yasukuni's main priest, Fujimaro Tsukuba and has an annual festival held o ...

("Spirit Pacifying Shrine") building is a shrine built to inter the souls of all the people who died during WWII, regardless of their nationality. It is located directly south of the Yasukuni Honden. Japanese soldiers fought

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

in the name of Emperor Shōwa, who visited the shrine eight times between the end of the war and 1975. However, he stopped visiting the shrine because of his displeasure over the enshrinement of top convicted war criminals. His successors

Akihito is a member of the Imperial House of Japan who reigned as the 125th emperor of Japan from 7 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. He presided over the Heisei era, ''Heisei'' being an expression of achieving peace worldwide. B ...

and Naruhito have never visited the shrine. Various Shinto festivals are associated with the shrine, particularly in the spring and autumn seasons when portable ''

Mikoshi A is a sacred religious palanquin (also translated as portable Shinto shrine). Shinto followers believe that it serves as the vehicle to transport a deity in Japan while moving between main shrine and temporary shrine during a festival or when ...

'' shrines are rounded about honoring the ancestral gods of Japan. A notable image of the shrine is the Japanese Imperial Chrysanthemum featured on the gate curtains leading into the shrine. The current 13th High Priest incumbent of the shrine is Tatebumi Yamaguchi, who was appointed on 1 November 2018 after Kunio Kobori.

History

Foundation for the dead in the Boshin War and Meiji Restoration

The site for the Yasukuni Shrine, originally named , was chosen by order of the Meiji Emperor. The shrine was established in 1869, in the wake of the

, 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. Following the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion, the Emperor had 6,959 souls of war dead enshrined at Tōkyō Shōkonsha. In 1879, the shrine was renamed ''Yasukuni Jinja.'' The name ''Yasukuni'', quoted from the phrase「 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. The name is formally written as , using the ''

kyūjitai ''Kyūjitai'' ( ja, 舊字體 / 旧字体, lit=old character forms) are the traditional forms of kanji, Chinese written characters used in Japanese. Their simplified counterparts are ''shinjitai'' ( ja, 新字体, lit=new character forms, la ...

'' character forms common before the end of the Pacific War. * Among the enshrined are Yoshida Shōin, Sakamoto Ryōma, Takasugi Shinsaku,

Nakaoka Shintarō was a samurai in Bakumatsu period Japan, and a close associate of Sakamoto Ryōma in the movement to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate.National Diet Library (NDL), Portraits of Modern Japanese Historical Figures Nakaoka, Shintaro/ref> Biography ...

Takechi Hanpeita , (October 24, 1829 – July 3, 1865), also known as , was a samurai of Tosa Domain during the Bakumatsu period in Japan. Influenced by the effects of the Perry Expedition, Takechi formed the Tosa Kinnō-tō (土佐勤王党, Tosa Im ...

Sanai Hashimoto was a Japanese samurai and loyal supporter of the Emperor during the final days of the Tokugawa regime. Biography Hashimoto was born April 19, 1834 in Echizen Province, Japan. The son of a doctor in the Fukui Clan, he studied medicine in Osaka ...

, and

Ōmura Masujirō was a Japanese military leader and theorist in Bakumatsu period Japan. He was the "Father" of the Imperial Japanese Army, launching a modern military force closely patterned after the French system of the day. Early life and education Ōmura ...

, who contributed to the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

's overthrow and the Meiji Restoration during the Bakumatsu period in Japan. In contrast, the shrine does not enshrine the war dead of shogunate retainers such as the soldiers of the former Shogunate forces, the Ouetsu Reppan Domei, the

Shinsengumi The was a special police force organized by the (military government) during Japan's Bakumatsu period (late Tokugawa shogunate) in 1863. It was active until 1869. It was founded to protect the shogunate representatives in Kyoto at a time w ...

, and the Shogitai. * Although

Saigō Takamori was a Japanese samurai and nobleman. He was one of the most influential samurai in Japanese history and one of the three great nobles who led the Meiji Restoration. Living during the late Edo and early Meiji periods, he later led the Sats ...

, Eto Shinpei, and Maebara Issei made a contribution to the Meiji Restoration, they were not enshrined because they revolted against the Meiji government after that.

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

The enshrinement of war dead at Yasukuni was transferred to military control in 1887. As the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent form ...

expanded,

Okinawans The Ryukyuan people ( ryu, 琉球民族 (るーちゅーみんずく), Ruuchuu minzuku or ryu, どぅーちゅーみんずく, Duuchuu minzuku, label=none, ja, 琉球民族/りゅうきゅうみんぞく, Ryūkyū minzoku, also Lewchewan or L ...

, 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 The , also known as the Treaty of Maguan () in China and in the period before and during World War II in Japan, was a treaty signed at the , Shimonoseki, Japan on April 17, 1895, between the Empire of Japan and Qing China, ending the Firs ...

, but Taiwanese were later admitted due to the need to conscript them during

. In 1932, two Sophia University (Jochi Daigaku) Catholic students refused visit to Yasukuni Shrine on the grounds that it was contrary to their religious convictions. In 1936, the Society for the Propagation of the Faith (Propaganda Fide) of the Roman Curia issued the Instruction Pluries Instanterque, and approved visits to Yasukuni Shrine as an expression of patriotic motive. This response of the Catholic Church helped the Jesuit university avoid a fateful crisis, but it meant its bowing down to the military power and control by Emperor system.

During World War II and the GHQ occupation period

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, but this practice ended in April 1944, and the identities of the spirits were subsequently concealed from the general public. The shrine had a critical role in military and civilian morale during the war era as a symbol of dedication to the Emperor. 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 , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending ...

'' suicide missions to say that they would "meet again at Yasukuni" following their death. After World War II, the US-led Occupation Authorities (known as GHQ for ''General Headquarters'') issued the

Shinto Directive The Shinto Directive was an order issued in 1945 to the Japanese government by Occupation authorities to abolish state support for the Shinto religion. This unofficial "State Shinto" was thought by Allies to have been a major contributor to ...

, 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 The is a religious administrative organisation that oversees about 80,000 Shinto shrines in Japan. These shrines take the Ise Grand Shrine as the foundation of their belief. It is the largest Shrine Shinto organization in existence. Descript ...

. The GHQ planned to burn down the Yasukuni Shrine and build a dog race course in its place. 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. Moreover, the Roman Curia reaffirmed the Instruction Pluries Instanterque in 1951.

Post-war issues and controversies

Enshrinement of war criminals

The shrine authorities and the Ministry of Health and Welfare established a system in 1956 for the government to share information with the shrine regarding deceased war veterans. Most of Japan's war dead who were not already enshrined at Yasukuni were enshrined in this manner by April 1959. War criminals prosecuted by the

International Military Tribunal for the Far East The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), also known as the Tokyo Trial or the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, was a military trial convened on April 29, 1946 to try leaders of the Empire of Japan for crimes against peace, conv ...

were initially excluded from enshrinement after the war. Government authorities began considering their enshrinement, along with providing veterans' benefits to their survivors, following the signature of the

Treaty of San Francisco The , also called the , re-established peaceful relations between Japan and the Allied Powers on behalf of the United Nations by ending the legal state of war and providing for redress for hostile actions up to and including World War II. It w ...

in 1951, and in 1954 directed some local memorial shrines to accept the enshrinement of war criminals from their area. No convicted war criminals were enshrined at Yasukuni until after the parole of the last remaining incarcerated war criminals in 1958. 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 in 1959, and these individuals were gradually enshrined between 1959 and 1967, often without permission from surviving family members. Information on the fourteen most prominent Class A war criminals, which included the prime ministers and top generals from the war era, was forwarded to the shrine in 1966, and the shrine passed a resolution to enshrine these individuals in 1970. 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. His successor Nagayoshi Matsudaira, who rejected the Tokyo war crimes tribunal's verdicts, enshrined the Class A war criminals in a secret ceremony in 1978. Emperor Shōwa, who visited the shrine as recently as 1975, was privately displeased with the action, and subsequently refused to visit the shrine. The details of the enshrinement of war criminals eventually became public in 1979, but there was minimal controversy about the issue for several years. No

Emperor of Japan The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his position is derived from "the ...

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 the 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 Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

complied, and a Mass was held in St. Peter's Basilica for all the fallen civilians and fallen dead worshiped in the shrine.

Statements by the shrine museum

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 The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...

just in order to justify war with them, as well as claiming that Japan went to war with the intention of creating a " Co-Prosperity Sphere" for all Asians.

Chronology

''See details on related controversy in

Controversies surrounding Yasukuni Shrine The controversies surrounding Yasukuni Shrine are related to the choice of Japanese people who are honoured at this nationally significant Shinto shrine and war museum in central Tokyo. Most of the venerated dead served the Emperors of Japan d ...

.''

King Rama VII and his suite visit to the Yasukuni Shrine

Charles Lindbergh and his wife visit to the Yasukuni Shrine

French Navy personnel visit to the Yasukuni Shrine in 1930s

US Navy personnel visit to the Yasukuni Shrine in 1930s

German Navy personnel visit to the Yasukuni Shrine in 1930s

Hitlerjugend visit to Yasukuni Shrine State Shintō wreath procession kannushi 1938

* 1862 ** December — (Tenporeki (Tenpō calendar)): The () for the was held for the first time at the (current Kyoto Ryozen Gokoku Shrine) at Higashiyama in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the c ...

. The ''Saijin'' (deities) enshrined in the Shindō Sōsaijō Reimeisha are three ''kami'' including . * 1868 ** January — (Tenpō calendar): The

started and continued until May, 1869 (Tenpō calendar) ** April 20 — (Tenpō calendar): The ''tasshi'' (proclamation) by the (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 ** 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 (Administrative officers) ordered submission of the list of the war dead to (Bureau of Rites) ** June 2 (Tenpō calendar): The ''Shōkonsai'' was held at ''Nishi-no-maru ōhiroma'' of

Edo Castle is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ōta Dōkan in Edo, Toshima District, Musashi Province. In modern times it is part of the Tokyo Imperial Palace in Chiyoda, Tokyo and is therefore also known as . Tokugawa Ieyasu established ...

** July 8 (Tenpō calendar): The ''tasshi'' by the (Bureau of Rites) ordered the holding of the ''Shōkonsai''. ** July 10–11 (Tenpō calendar): The ''Shōkonsai'' was held at the 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: Meiji Emperor gave Tōkyō Shōkonsha an estate worth 5000 koku (nominally 10,000 koku) as . ** July: The 1st (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) The Japanese punitive expedition to Taiwan in 1874, referred to in Japan as the and in Taiwan and Mainland China as the Mudan incident (), was a punitive expedition launched by the Japanese in retaliation for the murder of 54 Ryukyuan sailo ...

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: ** 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 The Satsuma Rebellion, also known as the was a revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government, nine years into the Meiji Era. Its name comes from the Satsuma Domain, which had been influential in the Restoration and b ...

** 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'' (the oldest military museum in the world) ** 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 The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the p ...

started and continued until April 1895. * 1895 ** November 17: ** 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 The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an Xenophobia, anti-foreign, anti-colonialism, anti-colonial, and Persecution of Christians#China, anti-Christian uprising in China ...

(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 The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

(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 World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

(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 Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great ...

* 1928 May: The Jinan Incident * 1931 March: The 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. * 1936: The

Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship. Congregation may also refer to: *Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administra ...

(Propaganda Fide) of the Roman Curia issued the Instruction Pluries Instanterque, and approved visit to the Yasukuni shrine as an expression of patriotic motive * 1938 April: Establishment of the new ''Shōkonsaitei'' * 1937 July: The

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific T ...

* 1941 December 8:

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vas ...

(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. 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. ** November 19: ''Rinji Dai-Shōkonsai'' ** December: The

* 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 * 1952 April 28: The

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 enshined: 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 of Japan, was the second head of a collateral branch of the Japanese imperial family. He was formerly enshrined in Tainan-Jinja, Taiwan, under the name ''Kitashirakawa no Miya Yoshihisa-shinnō no Mikoto'' as the main and only deity. Biograp ...

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: (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 (Collection of literary remains of the war dead in the Greater East Asia War (

) was issued as a commemorative publication in 1973. * 1972 March 13: The establishment of * 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. ** 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. * 1976 June 22: The establishment of the (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

or died in connection with the Tribunal. Since then, the Yasukuni shrine has used the designation (Martyrs of Shōwa). * 1980 ** May 22:

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. ** November 16: The establishment of * 1985 ** August 15: Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone paid his respects at the Yasukuni shrine, which initiated criticism by

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

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 () * 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. * 1998 December: The disbandment of and reorganization of * 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 (Former ) 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, particularly the

, where the visits stoked

anti-Japanese sentiment Anti-Japanese sentiment (also called Japanophobia, Nipponophobia and anti-Japanism) involves the hatred or fear of anything which is Japanese, be it its culture or its people. Its opposite is Japanophilia. Overview Anti-Japanese sentim ...

and influenced power struggles between pro-Japanese and anti-Japanese leaders within the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...

. 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. * 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 f Japanknow the Yasukuni Shrine is under attack, which is a dirty act of terrorism that negates the order of Internet technology and society." ** June 14: About fifty relatives of the war dead of

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

visited the Yasukuni shrine for the ceremony to remove spirits of Taiwanese Aboriginal soldiers, but canceled it due to sound trucks (''gaisensha'', ) 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 The is an executive department of the Government of Japan, and is responsible for the country's foreign policy and international relations. The ministry was established by the second term of the third article of the National Government Organ ...

and officials from the embassy of South Korea was held, and the Pukkwan Victory Monument was turned over to officials from South Korea, who returned it to its original location, which is now in North Korea. ** 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 Lee Teng-hui (; 15 January 192330 July 2020) was a Taiwanese statesman and economist who served as president of the Republic of China (Taiwan), President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) under Constitution of the Republic of China, the 1947 C ...

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, 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 ** December 26: The was set on fire by a Chinese man, Liu Qiang. ** May 14 : President of the

World Uyghur Congress The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) is an international organization of exiled Uyghur groups that claims to "represent the collective interest of the Uyghur people" both inside and outside of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's ...

Rebiya Kadeer Rebiya Kadeer ( ug, رابىيە قادىر, translit=Rabiye Qadir; born 15 November 1946) is an ethnic Uyghur businesswoman and political activist. Born in Altay City, Xinjiang, Kadeer became a millionaire in the 1980s through her real estate ...

visited the Yasukuni Shrine ** August 15: The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Yuichiro Hata and the National Public Safety Commission

Jin Matsubara is a Japanese politician. He is a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). He was appointed Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission, Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety and Mini ...

(Minister of State for Special Missions) paid respects at the Yasukuni Shrine as state ministers for the first time since the Democratic Party of Japan assumed the reins of government. * 2013 ** April: The Minister of Finance Tarō Asō, the National Public Safety Commission

Keiji Furuya is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan. Career A native of Tokyo, who attended secondary schools in the NY area, and graduate of Seikei University, he was e ...

, the

Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications The is a member of the Cabinet of Japan and is the leader and chief executive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. The minister is also a statutory member of the National Security Council, and is nominated by the Prime Ministe ...

Yoshitaka Shindo Yoshitaka is a masculine Japanese given name and a Japanese surname. Possible writings Yoshitaka can be written using many different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *義孝, "justice, filial piety" *義隆, "justice, no ...

, and the Minister of State for Regulatory Reform

Tomomi Inada is a Japanese lawyer and politician serving as a member of the Japanese House of Representatives, representing the 1st Fukui Prefecture since September 2005. She previously served as the 14th Japanese Minister of Defense from August 2016 to Jul ...

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. ** December 26: Prime Minister Shinzō Abe made a visit to Yasukuni Shrine and Chinreisha. 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. The US embassy in Tokyo said it was disappointed with Abe's actions and that his visit would exacerbate tensions with Japan's neighbours. The United States urged Japan to improve strained relations with neighboring countries in the aftermath of Abe's controversial visit to Yasukuni Shrine. South Korea's culture minister,

Yoo Jin-ryong Yoo Jin-ryong is a South Korean politician who formerly served as the Minister of Culture. Life and career Yoo Jin-ryong was born on September 2, 1956 in Incheon. In 1979, he graduated from Seoul National University with a bachelor's degree in ...

, 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." 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." * 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. However, another poll in 2015 by

Genron NPO Genron NPO (言論ＮＰＯ) is a Japanese think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technolog ...

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). ** April: Canadian singer

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

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. ** 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. * 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 * 2018 ** Chinese actor

Zhang Zhehan Zhang Zhehan (; born 11 May 1991) is a Chinese actor and singer. His first major role was as Wei Ying in the Chinese historical drama '' Legend of Ban Shu'' (2015). He is best known for his roles in '' Legend of Yunxi'' (2018), '' The Blooms at R ...

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. 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. 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 Sina Weibo (新浪微博) is a Chinese microblogging (weibo) website. Launched by Sina Corporation on 14 August 2009, it is one of the biggest social media platforms in China, with over 582 million monthly active users (252 million daily ac ...

and

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version o ...

deleted his studio and personal accounts.

Annual celebrations

* January 1: ** 0 a.m. ** 8 a.m. * January 2: * January 7: (Service of worshipping toward

Musashi Imperial Graveyard is a mausoleum complex of the Japanese Emperors in Nagabusa-machi, Hachiōji, Tokyo, Japan. Located within a forest in the western suburbs of Tokyo and named for the ancient Musashi Province, the site contains the mausolea of Emperor Tais ...

's Musashino no Misasagi, which is the Imperial mausoleum of the Shōwa Emperor) * January 30: (Service of worshipping toward Nochi no Tsukinowa no Higashi no Misasagi, which is the mausoleum of Emperor Kōmei) * February 11: (National Foundation Day)—Anniversary of the day on which Japan's first Emperor, Emperor Jimmu, is said to have founded the Japanese nation. * February 17: * February 23: (birthday of the current emperor) * April 21–23: ** April 21: ** April 22: ** April 19: , * April 29: — Emperor Shōwa's birthday * June 29: ** 10 a.m. (Founding Day) Commemoration of the founding of Yasukuni Jinja ** 2 p.m. * June 30: * July 13–16: (Mitama Festival)— A mid-summer celebration of the spirits of the ancestors. The entry walk is decorated with 40 foot high walls of more than 30,000 lanterns, and thousands of visitors come to pay respects to their lost relatives and friends.
** July 13: ** July 14: ** July 15: ** July 16: * July 30: (Service of worshipping toward Fushimi Momoyama no Misasagi, which is the mausoleum of

) * October 17: (Service of worshipping toward Ise Jingū Kannamesai) * October 17–20: (annual autumn festival) ** October 17: (Purifying ceremony), ** October 18: ** October 19: ** October 20: , (feast) * November 3: (Emperor Meiji's birthday) * November 23: (Festival of First Fruits) * December 25: (Worship of Tama-no-misasagi for Emperor Taishō), ''Susuharaishiki'' (Sweeping soot ceremony) * December 31: (Grand Purification Ceremony), (Year-End Ritual) * The first, 11th and 21st day of each month: * Every day: , , (Perpetual Kagura festival),

Enshrined deities

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. There are neither ashes nor spirit tablets in the shrine. Enshrinement is not exclusive to people of Japanese descent. Yasukuni Shrine has enshrined 27,863 Taiwanese and 21,181 Koreans. Many more ''kami'' – those who fought in opposition to imperial Japan, as well as all war dead regardless of nationality – are enshrined at

Eligible categories

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'': # 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 # Civilians who participated in combat under the military and died from resulting wounds or illnesses (includes residents of

Okinawa is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 Square kilometre, km2 (880 sq mi). ...

) # Civilians who died, or are presumed to have died, in

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

labor camps during and after the war # 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 # Crew who were killed aboard Merchant Navy vessels # Crew who were killed due to the sinking of exchange ships (''e.g.'' '' Awa Maru'') # Okinawan schoolchildren evacuees who were killed (''e.g.'' the sinking of ''

Tsushima Maru ''Tsushima Maru'' ( ja, 対馬丸) was a Japanese passenger/cargo ship that was sunk by the submarine USS ''Bowfin'' during World War II, while carrying hundreds of schoolchildren from Okinawa to Nagasaki. Description Tsushima Maru was carry ...

'') # 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, the shrine does not include members of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces which was established after the peace treaty. 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 from foreign countries such as

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

have requested that their relatives be delisted on the grounds that enshrining someone against their beliefs in life constitutes an infringement of the Constitution.

Conflicts

Japan has participated in 16 other conflicts since the

in 1869. The following table chronologically lists the number of people enshrined as

kami are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the sp ...

at the ''honden'' (as of October 17, 2004) from each of these conflicts. The Yasukuni shrine does not include the

's forces (particularly from the

Aizu is the westernmost of the three regions of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, the other two regions being Nakadōri in the central area of the prefecture and Hamadōri in the east. As of October 1, 2010, it had a population of 291,838. The princi ...

domain) or rebel forces who died during the Boshin War or Satsuma Rebellion because they are considered enemies of the emperor. They are enshrined at Chinreisha.

Precinct

There are a multitude of facilities within the 6.25

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre i ...

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 structures

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 The East Asian hip-and-gable roof (''Xiēshān'' (歇山) in Chinese, ''Irimoya'' (入母屋) in Japanese, and ''Paljakjibung'' (팔작지붕) in Korean) also known as 'resting hill roof', consists of a hip roof that slopes down on all four side ...

'', '' 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. The ''

honden In Shinto shrine architecture, the , also called , or sometimes as in Ise Shrine's case, is the most sacred building at a Shinto shrine, intended purely for the use of the enshrined ''kami'', usually symbolized by a mirror or sometimes by a s ...

'' 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 Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shint ...

rituals. The building is generally closed to the public. The building located on the right side of ''haiden'' is the (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. The building located directly behind the ''Sanshuden'' is the (Reception Hall). The building located directly behind the ''honden'' is known as the (Repository for the Symbolic Registers of Divinities) built in styles of ''Kirizuma-zukuri'', ''Hirairi'', and ''Doubanbuki''. It houses the —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. In addition to Yasukuni's main shrine buildings, there are also two peripheral shrines located on the precinct. is a small shrine that was first established in

by sympathizers of the imperial loyalists that were killed during the early weeks of the civil war that erupted during the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

. 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. The second peripheral shrine is the ''

''. 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.

''Torii'' and ''Mon'' (gates)

There are several different '' torii'' and 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.Ponsonby-Fane, p. 130. 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. 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. This is the largest bronze ''torii'' in Japan. Immediately following the ''Daini Torii'' is the . 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. West of this gate is the (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 is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 km2 (1,466 sq mi). Saitama Prefecture borders Tochigi Prefecture ...

in 2006. 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. 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.

Memorials

* 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. * 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. * Statue of Kamikaze Pilot: A bronze statue representing a

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

: 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." * Monument of Justice Radha Binod Pal: This newer monument was erected at Yasukuni Shrine in 2005. It honours

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

judge Radha Binod Pal, the lone justice on the

's trials of Japanese war crimes committed during World War II to find all the defendants not guilty. On April 29, 2005, Indian Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indir ...

told his counterpart

Koizumi Junichiro Junichiro Koizumi (; , ''Koizumi Jun'ichirō'' ; born 8 January 1942) is a former Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2001 to 2006. He retired from politics in 2009. He is ...

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." * 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. Opened, full bottles of water are often left at these statues. * (Monument for the dead in Hitachi Maru Incident) * (Monument of Tanaka squad) * (Monument of Kempeitai (Military police corps)) * (Monument of Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors, which is a Shōchoku (imperial edict) and code of ethics that

issued to soldiers of the army and the navy on January 4, 1882)

Other buildings and structures

(from Kudanshita Station) Shokonsaitei

* (Stone pillar on which the shrine name is engraved) * – near the ''Daiichi Torii'' * Red stone – near the ''Daiichi Torii'' * (The stone of battle site) * (Tall lantern) – the largest tōrō in Japan * – ''Ōtemizusha'', which means large '' temizuya'' (main purification font), was established in 1940. * Dovecote (shirohato kyusha): Almost 300 white doves live and are bred in a special dovecote located on the grounds of Yasukuni Shrine. * (North gate) * ''Nōgakudo'' ( Noh Theater): Originally built in

Shiba Park is a public park in Minato, Tokyo, Japan built around the temple of Zōjō-ji. The park is located between the Minato municipal offices and Tokyo Tower. Many of the footpaths in the park offer excellent views of Tokyo Tower, so the park is a popu ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

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. * * * (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. * 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." The building was repaired and expanded in 2002. The museum is a facility to stores and exhibit relics, 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. * ''Shinchi Teien'' (): 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. * Sumo Ring (): In 1869, a sumo wrestling exhibition was held at Yasukuni Shrine in order to celebrate the shrine's establishment. 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. * * (Teahouse) * (Teahouse) * (Teahouse): 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. * (Yasukuni clock tower)

List of priests

Guji (Chief priests): term of office

* : 16 July 1879 – 6 February 1891 (died in office) * : 17 February 1891 – 28 April 1909 * : 29 March 1909 – 21 April 1939 * : 21 April 1938 – 17 January 1946 * : 25 January 1946 – 20 March 1978 (died in office) * : 1 July 1978 – 31 March 1992 * : 1 April 1992 – 20 May 1997 * : 21 May 1997 – 10 September 2004 * : 11 September 2004 – 7 January 2009 (died in office) * : 15 June 2009 – 19 January 2013 * : 19 January 2013 – present (a great-grandson of Yoshinobu Tokugawa, the last

Tokugawa shogun The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia' ...

)

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

* : 16 April 1938 – 3 October 1945 * : 16 November 1945 – 30 June 1948 * : 26 April 1948 (interim) * : 31 August 1948 – 9 February 1979 * : 9 February 1979 – 16 July 1982 * : 16 July 1981 – 1 November 1984 * : 1 November 1984 – 17 November 1989 * : 1 August 1985 – 5 November 1990 * : 1 November 1990 – 20 May 1997 * : 21 May 1997 – 8 September 2009 * : 19 January 2000 – 31 October 2003 * : 1 June 2004 – * : 1 November 2009 – present

Organization

Yasukuni shrine is an individual religious corporation and does not belong to the

. Yasukuni shrine has departments listed below. The controls the overall system, and the assists the Gūji.

* ** **

* ** ** ** **

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* ** ** **

Cultural references to Yasukuni shrine

Bank notes

* 1942–1948: Empire of Japan 50 sen banknote

Postage stamps

* Japanese 17 sen stamp (1943) * Japanese 27 sen stamp (1945) * Japanese 1 yen stamp (1946)

Scenic postmarks

* *

Popular music

* (Singers: Masaru Shio, Yuriko Futaba etc.) * (Singer:

Chiyoko Shimakura (30 March 1938 – 8 November 2013) was an '' enka'' singer and TV presenter in Japan. She was considered "the Goddess of Enka". Career Chiyoko was born in Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo, Japan. In 1954 Chiyoko won the 1st prize of the Columbia Musi ...

)

Plays

* (The cherry blossoms of a same period)

Books

* 1881: (The chronology of Bukō (Edo, Musashi Province), 2nd volume) (Author:) * 1863–1872: (The diary of Masaomi Hirosawa) (Author: ) * 1868–1877: (The diary of Kido Takayoshi) (Author:

Kido Takayoshi , also known as , was a Japanese statesman, samurai and '' shishi'' who is considered one of the three great nobles who led the Meiji Restoration. Early life Born Wada Kogorō in Hagi, Chōshū Domain (present-day Yamaguchi Prefecture) as ...

) * 1905: (History of Yasukuni Shrine) (Author: ) * 1905–1907: (

I Am a Cat is a satirical novel written in 1905–1906 by Natsume Sōseki about Japanese society during the Meiji period (1868–1912), particularly the uneasy mix of Western culture and Japanese traditions. Sōseki's title, ''Wagahai wa Neko de Aru'', us ...

) (Author: Natsume Sōseki) * 1911: (History of Yasukuni Shrine) (Authors: Terauchi Masatake, , ) * 1917: (My thirty years in Tokyo) (Author:

Katai Tayama Katai Tayama (田山花袋 ''Tayama Katai'', 22 January 1872 – 13 May 1930, born Rokuya Tayama) was a Japanese author. His most famous works include ''Inaka Kyōshi'' (田舎教師, "Rural Teacher," also translated "Country Teacher") and ...

)

Posters

* 1871: (Big French circus on the grounds of Shokonsha (Yasukuni) shrine) File:Yasukuni.JPG, Japanese 17 sen (1943), 27 sen (1945) and 1 yen (1946) stamps which depict the Yasukuni Shrine's ''Torii'' and ''honden'' File:Yasukuni 75Th.JPG, Japanese 7 sen stamp depicting Yasukuni Shrine's ''honden'' File:Japanese government small-face-value paper money 50 Sen (Yasukuni Shrine) - front.jpg, Empire of Japan 50 sen banknote with Yasukuni Shrine File:Hiroshige III, Big French circus on the grounds of Shokonsha shrine, 1871.jpg, French circus on the grounds of Shokonsha shrine, 1871

Swords

In 1933, Minister of War Sadao Araki founded the 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. About 8,100 "Yasukuni swords" were manufactured in the grounds of the Yasukuni Shrine between 1933 and 1945. File:靖国刀（九段刀）刀身と拵え（外装）.jpg, Yasukuni (Kudan) sword (inscription: Yasuhiro) File:Yasuhiro.jpg, The center of Yasukuni (Kudan) sword (inscription: Yasuhiro)

References

Sources

* 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. . * Shirk, Susan L. ''China: Fragile Superpower: How China's Internal Politics Could Derail Its Peaceful Rise''. Oxford University Press, US. 2007. .

External links

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Wheelchair accessibility information on Yasukuni Shrine
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