Yasukuni Shrine

Yasukuni Shrine
靖国神社
Yasukuni Jinja
The haiden (hall of worship)
Yasukuni Shrine is located in Japan
Yasukuni Shrine
Location within Japan
Yasukuni Shrine is located in Tokyo
Yasukuni Shrine
Location within Tokyo
Yasukuni Shrine is located in Special wards of Tokyo
Yasukuni Shrine
Location within Special wards of Tokyo
Religion
AffiliationShinto
Festivals
Type
Chokusaisha
(former bekkaku-kanpeisha)
Location
Location3-1-1 Kudankita, Chiyoda, Tokyo 102-8246
Coordinates35°41′38″N 139°44′34″E / 35.693958°N 139.742692°E / 35.693958; 139.742692
Architecture
StyleShinmei-zukuri,
copper roofing (dōbanbuki)
FounderEmperor Meiji
EstablishedJune 1869
Website
www.yasukuni.or.jp/english/
Glossary of Shinto

Yasukuni Shrine (Japanese: 靖国神社 or 靖國神社, Hepburn: Yasukuni Jinja; lit. 'Peaceful Country Shrine') 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. 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.

The shrine lists the names, origins, birthdates and places of death of 2,466,532 people. Among those are 1,068 convicted war criminals from the Pacific War, fourteen of whom were convicted with Class A crimes at the Tokyo Trial. A 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.

The enshrinement of an extensive number of war criminals, as well as the shrine's historical association with State Shinto, has made the shrine highly controversial within East Asia, particularly amongst victims of Japanese imperialism. Emperor Hirohito, under whom Japan fought during World War II, visited the shrine eight times between the end of the war and 1975. However, he thereafter boycotted the shrine due to his displeasure over the enshrinement of top convicted Japanese war criminals. His successors, Akihito and Naruhito, have never visited the shrine. 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 the conservative Shinzo Abe in 2013.

History

Foundation for the dead in the Boshin War and Meiji Restoration

Tōkyō Shōkonsha in 1873

The site for the Yasukuni Shrine, originally named Tōkyō Shōkonsha (東京招魂社, "shrine to summon the souls"), was chosen by order of the Meiji Emperor. 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.

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 "吾以靖國也" 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 靖國神社, using the kyūjitai character forms common before the end of the Pacific War.

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 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. 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.

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 allowed the Jesuit university to avoid potential repercussions, though it aligned the institution with the prevailing national policy. [clarification needed][opinion]

During World War II and the GHQ control 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. In April 1944, this practice ended and the identities of the spirits were concealed from the general public.

The shrine was used as a focal point for fostering military and civilian morale during the war era, often emphasizing 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 suicide missions to say that they would "meet again at Yasukuni" following their death. Some wartime military songs referenced Yasukuni, such as "Doki no Sakura" (同期の櫻) and "Calming the Country" (國の鎮め). 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.

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.

Some reports suggest that GHQ considered repurposing the Yasukuni Shrine grounds, but the plan was never implemented. 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. 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.

Post-war issues and controversies

Enshrinement of war criminals

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. War criminals prosecuted by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East were initially excluded from enshrinement after the war. 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.

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.

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 until his death in March 1978.

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. Records indicate that after the enshrinement of convicted war criminals in 1978, no Japanese emperor has visited the shrine. In 1979, the details of the enshrinement of war criminals became public, but there was minimal controversy about the issue for several years. 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.

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 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.

In 2026, the shrine banned cosplay and the wearing of military-related attire on its premises, with exemptions for members of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and foreign military forces, as part of efforts to maintain the "serenity and dignity" of the site.

Chronology

See details on related controversy in Controversies surrounding Yasukuni Shrine

King of Thailand, King Rama VII (Prajadhipok)'s visit to the Yasukuni Shrine, May 1931
Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh visiting Yasukuni Shrine, October 1931
French Navy officers' visit to Yasukuni Shrine, May 1933
The United States Navy officers' visit to Yasukuni Shrine, July 1933
German Navy officers' visit to Yasukuni Shrine, March 1937
Hitler Youth visit to Yasukuni Shrine, October 1938
Eirei ni kotaeru Kai (Society for Honoring the Glorious War Dead) members, August 2001

Annual celebrations

The Mitama Festival at Yasukuni Shrine
Yasukuni Mitama Lanterns
Haiden with purple curtains in the Niinamesai

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 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 Chinreisha.

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:

  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.

Conflicts

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
Satsuma Rebellion 1877 6,971
Taiwan Expedition of 1874 Conflict with the Paiwan people (Taiwanese aborigines) 1874 1,130
Ganghwa Island incident Conflict with the Joseon Army 1875 2
Imo Incident Conflict with the Joseon Rebel Army over Korea 1882 14
Gapsin Coup a failed 3-day coup d'état in the late Joseon Dynasty of Korea 1884 6
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 the Russian Empire over Korea and Manchuria 1904–05 88,429
World War I Conflict with the German Empire (Central Powers) over the Mediterranean Sea and Shandong, a Chinese province 1914–1918 4,850
Battle of Qingshanli Conflict with the Korean Independence Army over Korea 1920 11
Jinan Incident Conflict with the Kuomintang of China over Jinan, the capital of Shandong province 1928 185
Musha Incident The last major Aboriginal uprising against colonial Japanese forces in Taiwan 1930 Unknown
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
Mukden Incident Leading to the occupation of Manchuria 1931–1937 17,176
Second Sino-Japanese War Conflict with China 1937–1941 191,250
World War II Pacific theatre
(including Indochina War)		 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)		 1941–1945
1945–		 2,133,915
  Total 2,466,584

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.

Precinct

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 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, 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 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.

The building located on the right side of haiden is the Sanshuden (参集殿) (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 Tochakuden (到着殿) (Reception Hall).

The building located directly behind the honden is known as the Reijibo Hōanden (霊璽簿奉安殿) (Repository for the Symbolic Registers of Divinities) built in styles of Kirizuma-zukuri, Hirairi, and Doubanbuki. It houses the Symbolic Registry of Divinities (霊璽簿, Reijibo)—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. Motomiya (元宮) 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. 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.

Torii and Mon (gates)

There are several different torii and mon (門) 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. 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 shinmon (神門). 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 Chumon Torii (中門鳥居) (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.

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.

Torii and Mon (Gates)
Daiichi Torii (Great Gate)
Daini Torii
Shinmon
Chumon Torii

Memorials

Memorial Statues
Irei no Izumi Sculpture
Ōmura Masujirō
Memorial Statues
Hitachimaru Junnan Kinenhi

Other buildings and structures

Syagō Hyō
Nōgakudo
The nameboard of Nōgakudo
The entrance to the Yūshūkan
Shōkonsaitei
Kōuntei

Organization

The Yasukuni Shrine is an individual religious corporation and does not belong to the Association of Shinto Shrines. The chief priest (宮司, gūji) controls the overall system, and the assistant chief priest (権宮司, gongūji) assists him.

The Yasukuni Shrine has departments listed below:

Lists of priests

The fifth and longest-serving chief priest, Fujimaro Tsukuba (t. 1946–1978)
List of chief priests of the Yasukuni Shrine
No.Chief priestTerm of officeRef
StartEndDuration
1 Kiyoshi Aoyama
青山 清		16 July
1879		6 February
1891		11 years, 206 days
2 Mizuho Kamo
賀茂 水穂		17 February
1891		28 April
1909		18 years, 71 days
3 Momoki Kamo
賀茂 百樹		29 March
1909		21 April
1938		29 years, 24 days
4 Takao Suzuki
鈴木 孝雄		21 April
1938		17 January
1946		7 years, 272 days
5 Fujimaro Tsukuba
筑波 藤麿		25 January
1946		20 March
1978		32 years, 55 days
6 Nagayoshi Matsudaira
松平 永芳		1 July
1978		31 March
1992		13 years, 275 days
7 Toshiyasu Ono
大野 俊康		1 April
1992		20 May
1997		5 years, 50 days
8 Tadashi Yuzawa
湯澤 貞		21 May
1997		10 September
2004		7 years, 113 days
9 Toshiaki Nanbu
南部 利昭		11 September
2004		7 January
2007		2 years, 119 days
10 Takaharu Kyōgoku
京極 高晴		15 June
2009		18 January
2013		3 years, 218 days
11 Yasuhisa Tokugawa
徳川 康久		19 January
2013		28 February
2018		5 years, 41 days
12 Kunio Kohori
小堀 邦夫		1 March
2018		31 October
2018		245 days
13 Tatebumi Yamaguchi
山口 建史		1 November
2018		31 March
2024		5 years, 152 days
14 Umio Otsuka
大塚 海夫		1 April
2024		Incumbent2 years, 201 days
List of associate chief priests of the Yasukuni Shrine
Associate chief priestTerm of office
StartEndDuration
Shosaku Takahara
高原 正作		16 April
1938		3 October
1945		7 years, 171 days
Tokitsune Yokoi
横井 時常		16 November
1945		30 June
1948		2 years, 228 days
Shuutaro Takeuchi
竹内 秀太郎
Interim		26 April
1948		1 day
Yoshihachi Ikeda
池田 良八		31 August
1948		9 February
1979		30 years, 163 days
Katsushige Fujita
藤田 勝重		9 February
1979		16 July
1982		3 years, 158 days
Tadamasa Suzuki
鈴木 忠正		16 July
1981		1 November
1984		3 years, 119 days
Jushin Kannotou
神野藤 重申		1 November
1984		17 November
1989		5 years, 17 days
Terumichi Kiyama
木山 照道		1 August
1985		5 November
1990		5 years, 97 days
Tadashi Yuzawa
湯澤 貞		1 November
1990		20 May
1997		6 years, 201 days
Katsuo Mitsui
三井 勝生		21 May
1997		8 September
2009		12 years, 111 days
Tadamasa Hanada
花田 忠正		19 January
2000		31 October
2003		3 years, 286 days
Tatebumi Yamaguchi
山口 建史		1 June
2004		30 June
2015		11 years, 30 days
Koji Ogata
小方 孝次		1 November
2009		23 June
2017		7 years, 235 days
Akio Saka
坂 明夫		21 September
2015		30 January
2020		4 years, 132 days
Nobumasa Murata
村田 信昌		1 November
2017		Incumbent8 years, 352 days

Cultural references

Bank notes

Postage stamps

Japanese 17 sen (1943), 27 sen (1945) and 1 yen (1946) stamps which depict the Yasukuni Shrine's Torii and honden
Japanese 17 sen (1943), 27 sen (1945) and 1 yen (1946) stamps which depict the Yasukuni Shrine's Torii and honden

Scenic postmarks

Plays

Books

French circus on the grounds of Shokonsha shrine, 1871
French circus on the grounds of Shokonsha shrine, 1871

Posters

Swords

In 1933, Minister of War Sadao Araki founded the Nihon-tō Tanrenkai (日本刀鍛錬会; Japanese Sword Forging Association) 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.[citation needed] About 8,100 "Yasukuni swords" were manufactured in the grounds of the Yasukuni Shrine between 1933 and 1945.[citation needed]

Controversies

This section is an excerpt from Controversies surrounding Yasukuni Shrine.[edit]
Yasukuni Shrine; March 2012

There are a number of war controversies relating to Yasukuni Shrine and its war museum Yūshūkan in Tokyo, Japan. The shrine is based on State Shinto, as opposed to traditional Japanese Shinto, and has a close history with statism in Shōwa Japan. Most of the dead served the emperors of Japan during wars from 1867 to 1951, but they also include civilians in service and government officials. It is the belief of Shinto that Yasukuni enshrines the actual souls of the dead, known as kami in Japanese. The kami are honored through liturgical texts and ritual incantations known as Norito.

Of the 2,466,532 men named in the shrine's Book of Souls, 1,066 are war criminals convicted by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, following World War II. Eleven of those war criminals were convicted of Class A war crimes; one was charged with Class A but found guilty of lesser Class B war crimes; two other men were charged with Class A crimes but died before their trials could be completed. This decision to honor individuals who were found responsible for serious breaches of international humanitarian law caused China, Russia, South Korea, and North Korea to call Yasukuni Shrine an exemplar of the nationalist, revisionist, and unapologetic approach Japan has taken towards its conduct during World War II. This has made visits to the shrine by Japanese prime ministers, cabinet members, or parliamentarians extremely controversial. Then-prime minister Junichiro Koizumi made annual personal non-governmental visits from 2001 to 2006. Since 1985, China, North Korea, and South Korea have protested such visits.

The decision on who is enshrined at Yasukuni remains a religious matter. While the practice started when State Shinto was controlled and managed by the civilian and then military governments of Imperial Japan, post-war governments established a strict legal separation that they have maintained ever since. The Yasukuni priesthood have complete religious autonomy over deciding whom they bestow enshrinement, which is thought permanent and irreversible by the shrine's current Kannushi.

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Died in office
  2. ↑ A great-grandson of Yoshinobu Tokugawa, the last Tokugawa shogun

References

  1. ↑ "History". Yasukuni.or.jp. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
  2. 1 2 3 "Deities". Yasukuni.or.jp. Archived from the original on 2016-06-24. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
  3. ↑ "China condemns Japanese tribute to war criminals at Yasukuni Shrine". South China Morning Post. 2025-08-17. Retrieved 2026-03-21.
  4. 1 2 "Explainer: Why Yasukuni shrine is a controversial symbol of Japan's war legacy". Reuters. 14 August 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 "Hirohito quit Yasukuni Shrine visits over concerns about war criminals". The New York Times. 26 April 2007.
  6. ↑ Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1963). The Vicissitudes of Shinto, pp. 118–134.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Hiyama, Yukio (21 August 2013). "How Japan Honors Its War Dead: The Coexistence of Complementary Systems". Nippon.com. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  8. ↑ 基礎からわかる靖国神社問題】Ｑ 戦前、戦後 どんな役割？ (in Japanese). Yomiuri Shimbun. Retrieved 2007-01-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  9. 1 2 3 4 靖国神社 (Tokyo, Japan) (1912). Momoki Kamo (1912) 靖国神社誌.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Yasukuni jinja hyakunenshi Yasukuni Jinja hen (1983–87) 靖国神社百年史 全4卷、資料篇・事歴年表. 1983.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Webcat Plus 靖国神社略年表 (in Japanese). 1973.
  12. 1 2 A. Hamish Ion (February 1999). The Cross in the Dark Valley The Canadian Protestant Missionary Movement in the Japanese Empire, 1931–1945. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0-88920-294-8. Archived from the original on 2004-08-19. Retrieved 2014-01-06.
  13. 1 2 3 4 "PDF, ACTES DE S.S.PIE XI, texte latin et traduction francaise, TOME XIV (Annee 1936), Instruction Pluries Instanterque, MAISON DE LA BONNE PRESSE, Paris. (Latin-French)" (PDF).
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "John Breen Archives" John Breen, "Popes, Bishops and War Criminals: reflections on Catholics and Yasukuni in post-war Japan 法皇、司教、戦犯−−戦後日本のカトリックと靖国". japanfocus.org (in English and Japanese). 5 June 2020.
  15. ↑ Takahashi, Tetsuya (6 April 2007). "Yasukuni Shrine at the Heart of Japan's National Debate: History, Memory, Denial". The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. Retrieved 27 December 2013. During Japan's colonial period the emperor was the sovereign and religious power and commanded its armies. The populations of Japan and its colonies were all regarded as his servants, with a moral duty "to dedicate themselves to the emperor and the state in times of national crisis, with no regard for their own lives." Soldiers who died during these wars, which were considered holy, were an example to the nation and it was the responsibility of the Yasukuni shrine to raise military morale and foster the spiritual mobilisation of the nation for war.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Higurashi, Yoshinobu (25 November 2013). "Yasukuni and the Entombment of War Criminals". Nippon.com. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
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  18. ↑ "Japan's "Secret" Weapon: Suicide" (PDF). www.cia.gov. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
  19. ↑ Tetsuya, Takahashi. "Yasukuni Shrine at the Heart of Japan's National Debate". Japan Focus. Archived from the original on 2008-04-04. Retrieved 2008-03-23.
  20. ↑ Okuyama, Michiaki (2009). "THE YASUKUNI SHRINE PROBLEM IN THE EAST ASIAN CONTEXT: RELIGION AND POLITICS IN MODERN JAPAN: Foundation" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2014. As part of the reforms initiated by GHQ, in February 1946 some 86,000 of the total of approximately 106,000 Shinto Shrines were merged into Jinja Honcho (the Association of Shinto Shrines) to form a private religious corporation. ... Yasukuni Shrine, however, chose to become an individual religious corporation keeping itself apart from the Association of Shinto Shrines, on the ground that its function under the imperial regime had been completely different from other Shinto shrines. ... In November 1946, GHQ decided to allow that the precinct of national property where religious facilities were located to be transferred to each facility as a private organization, but this decision did not apply to Yasukuni Shrine and other militaristic shrines. It was only after the peace treaty was effectuated in 1952 that the status of Yasukuni Shrine as a private religious corporation was finally established.
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  36. ↑ "Tokyo's Yasukuni shrine 'in arson attack'". Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2022-01-12. Retrieved 2015-11-19.
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  45. ↑ 中韓米の靖国参拝批判、6割が「納得できない」 内閣支持率50%台に回復 [60% [of respondents] "cannot agree" with the criticism of Yasukuni Shrine visits by China, South Korea, and the U.S.; Cabinet approval rating recovers to the 50% range]. Sankei Shimbun. 6 January 2014. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2014. 安倍首相が昨年12月26日、靖国神社に参拝したことについて「評価する」とした回答は38・1%、「評価しない」は53・0%だった。評価するとした人の74・0%が「戦争の犠牲者に哀悼の意を示した」ことを理由に挙げた。評価しない人の理由は「外交的配慮に欠ける」が61・9%に達した。ただ、首相の靖国神社参拝を中国や韓国が非難していることに対しては「納得できない」が67・7%を占め、「納得できる」（23・3%）を大きく上回った。米政府が「失望した」とする声明を出したことにも約6割が「納得できない」と回答した。 [Regarding Prime Minister Abe's visit to Yasukuni Shrine on December 26th last year, 38.1% of respondents answered that they "approve" of the visit, while 53.0% answered that they "do not approve." Among those who approved, 74.0% cited the reason as "expressing condolences to the victims of war." The main reason given by those who did not approve was "lack of diplomatic consideration," which reached 61.9%. However, when it came to the condemnation of the Prime Minister's visit to Yasukuni Shrine by China and South Korea, 67.7% answered that they "cannot agree" and significantly outnumbered those who "can agree" (23.3%). About 60% also responded "cannot agree" to the statement issued by the U.S. government expressing "disappointment."]
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Sources

Further reading

Regarding its controversy