was the most important

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

shrine A shrine ( "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred space">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...: ''escri ...

during the Japanese colonial period in Korea. It was built in 1925 in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

(then called

Keijō , or Gyeongseong (), was an administrative district of Korea under Japanese rule that corresponds to the present Seoul, the capital of South Korea. History When the Empire of Japan annexed the Korean Empire, it made Seoul the colonial capita ...

) and destroyed soon after the end of colonial rule in 1945. The famous architect and architectural historian Itō Chūta, also responsible for Meiji Jingū, contributed to its planning. The former site of the shrine is now part of Namsan Park.

Background

After the

annexation of Korea Annexation, in international law, is the forcible acquisition and assertion of legal title over one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. In current international law, it is generally held to ...

in 1910, the Japanese government embarked upon a policy of

Japanization Japanization or Japanisation is the process by which Japanese culture dominates, assimilates, or influences other cultures. According to ''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'', "To japanize" means "To make or become Jap ...

. This included worship at Shintō shrines, as much a political expression of patriotism as a religious act. From 1925, school pupils were required to attend

Shinto shrines A Stuart D. B. Picken, 1994. p. xxiii is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more kami, , the deities of the Shinto religion. The Also called the . is where a shrine's patron is or are enshrined.Iwanami Japanese dic ...

, and in 1935 it became compulsory for university students and government employees to attend Shinto ceremonies. By 1945, there were a total of 1,140 shrines in Korea associated with

State Shinto was Empire of Japan, Imperial Japan's ideological use of the Japanese folk religion and traditions of Shinto. The state exercised control of shrine finances and training regimes for Kannushi, priests to strongly encourage Shinto practices that ...

. was an advocate for attempting to use the concept of to syncretize Japanese and Korean religion. Some people identified

Dangun Dangun or Tangun (; ), also known as Dangun Wanggeom (; ), was the legendary founder and first king of Gojoseon, the first Korean kingdom. He founded the first kingdom around the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. He is said to be the "gra ...

with

Susanoo-no-Mikoto __FORCETOC__ Susanoo (, ; Historical kana orthography, historical orthography: , ), often referred to by the honorific title Susanoo-no-Mikoto (), is a in Japanese mythology. The younger brother of Amaterasu, goddess of the sun and mythical an ...

, the government not wanting to take a stand on this enshrined the generic Okunitama at Chōsen Jingu so believers could have their own interpretations. was a strong advocate of these positions and his advocacy was associated with the enshrinement of Okunitama at both Chōsen Jingu, and . State authorities at Chōsen Jingu however never even allowed for Okunitama to be called "Chosen Okunitama" and indigenous Dangun traditions were suppressed in favor of worshipping

Amaterasu , often called Amaterasu () for short, also known as and , is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. Often considered the chief deity (''kami'') of the Shinto pantheon, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the () ...

in the shrine. The shrine faced scrutiny in a period prior to its construction. Teisuke Imaizumi, Shozo Ogasawara Ashizu Chihiko, Hida Kageyuki and Momoki Kamo are recorded to have argued that the shrine would be best constructed to enshrine local Korean deities, requesting reconsideration of the policy of enshrinement established for it.

History

The shrine was constructed in 1925, and an enshrinement ceremony held in October. It was dedicated to

and

Emperor Meiji , posthumously honored as , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the List of emperors of Japan, traditional order of succession, reigning from 1867 until his death in 1912. His reign is associated with the Meiji Restoration of 1868, which ...

. It was constructed in the

shinmei-zukuri is an ancient Japanese architectural style typical of Ise Grand Shrine's ''honden'', the holiest of Shinto shrines.Encyclopedia of Shinto It is most common in Mie Prefecture.JAANUS History Ancient shrines were constructed according to the style ...

style of Ise Jingū. Worship at the shrine increased in the 1930s after the government began forcing people to attend. This made the shrine and others a target of resentment; within days of Korea's liberation in 1945, many shrines were burnt down. An ethnic Korean group proposed to take over Okunitama worship after the war and convert the shrine to one worshipping

but was denied by the new government. also proposed a system where Japanese people in the colonies were seen as

Amatsukami is a category of kami in Japanese mythology. Generally speaking, it refers to kami born in, or residing in, Takamagahara. ''Amatsukami'' is one of the three categories of kami, along with their earthly counterpart , and . In the time of Ninig ...

and natives were seen as Kunitsukami. After the announcement of Japan's surrender on August 15, a ceremony was held that afternoon to remove the enshrined deities. The shrine was considered by the

United States Army Military Government in Korea The United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) was the official ruling body of the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula from 9 September 1945 to 15 August 1948. The country during this period was plagued with political a ...

to be "enemy property". Chōsen Jingū was demolished in October 1945. The former site of the shrine is now part of Namsan Park. In 1970 the "Patriot An Jung-geun Memorial Hall" was constructed on the site of the former shrine, in honour of

An Jung-geun An Jung-geun (; 2 September 1879 – 26 March 1910) was a Korean independence activist. He is remembered as a martyr in both South and North Korea for his 1909 assassination of the Japanese politician Itō Hirobumi, who had previously served a ...

, the assassin of

Itō Hirobumi Kazoku, Prince , born , was a Japanese statesman who served as the first prime minister of Japan from 1885 to 1888, and later from 1892 to 1896, in 1898, and from 1900 to 1901. He was a leading member of the ''genrō'', a group of senior state ...

, the first Japanese

Resident-General A resident minister, or resident for short, is a government official required to take up permanent residence in another country. A representative of his government, he officially has diplomatic functions which are often seen as a form of in ...

. A statue of another independence activist,

Kim Ku Kim Ku (; August 29, 1876 – June 26, 1949), also known by his art name Paekpŏm, was a Korean independence activist and statesman. He was a leader of the Korean independence movement against the Empire of Japan, head of the Provisional Gove ...

, was also erected on the spot.

Description

The shrine ran along a straight axis of around . The main shrine was at the far end away from the entrance.

Gallery

References

External links