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Yasukuni Shrine


The shrine is a source of controversy. Of the almost 2.5 million enshrined, 1,068 have been convicted of war crimes by a post World War II court.
Shinto rites are performed at the shrine, which, according to Shinto belief, houses the kami, or spirits, of all Japanese, former colonial subjects (Korean and Taiwanese) and civilians who died in service of the emperor while participating in the nation's conflicts which occurred prior to 1951.

Enshrined kami



According to Shinto beliefs, by enshrining kami Yasukuni Shrine provides a permanent residence for the spirits of those who have fought on behalf of the emperor. Unlike a traditional Shinto shrine in which each kami occupies its own seat in the shrine, Yasukuni has all enshrined kami occupying the same single seat.

Eligible categories

As a general rule, the enshrined are limited to those who died while serving Japan during armed conflicts, so civilians who died during wars are not included, apart from a handful of exceptions. In order to be considered to be added to the list of enshrined, the dead must fall into at least one of the eligible categories:
  • Military personnel, and civilians employed by the military, who were:
    1. 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)
    2. missing and presumed to have died as a result of wounds or illnesses sustained while on duty
    3. died as a result of war crime tribunals which have been ratified by the San Francisco Peace Treaty
    4. Civilians who participated in combat under the military and died from resulting wounds or illnesses (includes residents of Okinawa)
    5. Civilians who died, or are presumed to have died, in Soviet labor camps after the war
    6. 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
    7. Crew who were killed aboard Merchant Navy vessels
    8. Crew who were killed due to the sinking of exchange ships (i.e. Awa Maru)
    9. Okinawan schoolchildren evacuees who were killed (i.e. the sinking of Tsushima Maru)
    10. Officials of the governing bodies of Karafuto Prefecture, Kwantung Leased Territory, Governor-General of Korea and Governor-General of Taiwan

    Although new names of World War II-dead are added to the shrine every year, no deaths due to conflicts occurring since Japan signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty in 1951 have qualified for enshrinement. Therefore, the shrine does not include members of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces who have died on duty in subsequent conflicts.

    Enshrinement is carried out unilaterally by the shrine. Some families from foreign countries such as South Korea have requested that their relatives be delisted on the grounds that enshrining someone against their beliefs in life constitutes an infringement of the Constitution. The Yasukuni priesthood, however, has stated that once a kami is enshrined, it has been 'merged' with the other kami occupying the same seat and therefore cannot be separated.

    Kami by conflict

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

    {| class="wikitable sortable" cellpadding="0" |- ! Conflict ! class="unsortable" | Description ! Year(s) ! # of Enshrined ! class="unsortable" | Notes

    |- | Boshin War and Meiji Restoration | Japanese civil war | 1867–1869 | 7,751 |
    |- | Satsuma Rebellion | Japanese civil war | 1877 | 6,971 |
    |- | Taiwan Expedition of 1874 | Conflict with Paiwan people (Taiwanese aborigines) | 1874 | 1,130 |
    |- | Imo Incident | Conflict with Joseon Rebel Army over Korea | 1882 | more than 10 | |- | First Sino-Japanese War | Conflict with Qing-China over Korea | 1894–95 | 13,619 |
    |- | Boxer Uprising | Eight-Nation Alliance's invasion of China | 1901 | 1,256 |
    |- | Russo-Japanese War | Conflict with Russian Empire over Korea and Manchuria | 1904–05 | 88,429 |
    |- | World War I | Conflict with German Empire (Central Powers) over Shandong, a Chinese province | 1914–1918 | 4,850 |
    |- | Jinan Incident | Conflict with China (Kuomintang) over Jinan, a Chinese sub-provincial city | 1928 | 185 |
    |- | Mukden Incident | Leading to the occupation of Manchuria | 1931 | 17,176 |
    |- | Second Sino-Japanese War | Conflict with China | 1937–1941 | 191,250 |
    |- | World War II | Conflict with the Allied forces and involvement in the Pacific theater | 1941–1945 | 2,133,915 |
    |- class="sortbottom" | colspan="2" |   | Total | 2,466,532 | |}

    The shrine does not include the Tokugawa shogunate's forces (particularly from the Aizu domain and Satsuma Province) who died during the Boshin War and Satsuma Rebellion because they are considered enemies of the emperor. This exclusion, which includes the ancestors of current Chief Priest Nanbu Toshiaki, is deeply resented in both areas.

    Controversy

    Enshrinement of war criminals

    One of the controversies arises out of the enshrinement of World War II war criminals. According to documents released by the National Diet Library of Japan in 2007, Health and Welfare Ministry officials and Yasukuni representatives officially met and agreed on 31 January, 1969, that 1,068 convicted war criminals were "able to be honored" with enshrinement at Yasukuni. After the meeting, it was specifically decided to not publicly announce the criminals' enshrinement. 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: This modern looking monument is a spring dedicated to those who suffered from or died of thirst in battle.
  • 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."
  • 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 donated by the Tokkōtai Commemoration Peace Memorial Association in 2005 details the 5,843 men who died while executing attacks for the Tokkōtai.
  • Statues of Dog, Horse & Carrier Pigeon: 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 Yasukuni Shrine in 1958 to honor the memory of the horses that served in the Japanese military. Presented in 1982, this statue depicting a pigeon atop a globe honors homing pigeons used by the military. The last statue, donated in March 1992, depicts a German shepherd and honors the soldiers' canine comrades. Opened, full bottles of water are often left at these statues.
  • Statue of War Widow: This statue honors all mothers who were forced to raise children in the absence of their husbands who were killed in war. It was donated to the shrine in 1974 by these mothers' children.
  • Monument of Dr. Pal: This recent monument was erected at Yasukuni Shrine in 2005. It honors Indian judge Radhabinod Pal, the lone justice on the International Military Tribunal for the Far East's trials of Japanese war crimes committed during World War II to find all the defendants not guilty. The museum houses many war relics, including a Zero Fighter plane and Kaiten suicide torpedo. It glorifies sacrifice and bravery, while making little mention of human suffering on both sides. More controversially, it states that the Pacific War was a war fought by Japan in self-defense. The former prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, has had to clarify in the Diet that Yūshūkan's interpretation of history differs to that of the government.
  • Dove Cote: Almost 300 white doves live and are bred in a special dove cote located on the grounds of Yasukuni Shrine.
  • 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.
  • Nōgaku-den: Noh plays were first presented on the Shrine premises in 1878. The support of Empress Dowager Eishō and Empress Consort Haruko (now known as (Empress Shōken) ensured a permanent home for Noh at Yasukuni.

    See also

    • The WikiPedia article on this page is used used with permission, based on the WikiMedia Foundation's terms of use, and is thus licensed under the same license as the original content, which in most cases is the Creative Commons ShareAlike License but in some cases is the GNU Free Documentation License. The original WikiPedia article is here.

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