(Photo by Takiguchi Takahiro/Stripes Japan)
August 15 marks the anniversary of the end of World War II. Every year on this day, many visit Yasukuni Shrine, a controversial memorial and museum viewed as a symbol of imperial Japan’s war history.
The shrine was founded in 1869 by then-Emperor Meiji and is near the Imperial Palace in the Kudan District of Tokyo. While some consider the shrine a sacred home to national heroes, just like Arlington National Cemetery in the U.S., others see it as an emblem of Japanese militarism which drove countless private citizens to war. Official visits by ministers for the End-of-War Anniversary have also raised criticism by countries once occupied by Japan, including South Korea and China.
I decided to visit the shrine to learn about it and the history of Japan at war.
Yasukuni Shrine symbols
The shrine is a short walk from Kudanshita Station on the Tozai Line. Near the entrance, a large takadoro light tower welcomes visitors. This tower is Japan’s largest shrine lantern and was constructed in 1871 to console the spirits of those lost in battle.
The lantern has continued to light up not only the front of the shrine, but the entire hill that Kudan is located.
From the tower, visitors cross a pedestrian bridge to get to the entrance. Although Yasukuni is a Shinto shrine, it doesn’t enshrine Shinto gods. According to the Mainichi Shimbun, Yasukuni enshrines more than 2,466,000 spirits of those who died in war, including military personnel, civilian military employees, war nurses, student workers and conscripted Koreans.
To enter the inner shrine grounds, visitors walk under a gigantic black torii gate. It leaves an impression.
(Photo by Takiguchi Takahiro/Stripes Japan)
The torii, made from copper, is 82 feet tall, 112 feet wide and considered the largest in the nation. Besides this gigantic copper gate, there were two more large torii – bronze and wooden gates – that I passed through before reaching the main shrine. After passing through the first torii, I came upon a tall statue of Omura Masujiro. Omura was the founder of the modern Japanese Army and contributed to establishing the shrine.
This 133-year-old statue is known as Japan’s first Western-style statue. Just after the second bronze torii, there is an 84-year-old magnificent cypress Shinmon (main gate) with a traditional shrine-style tiled roof. Each of the two doors at the gate bears a large imperial golden chrysanthemum crest.
(Photo by Takiguchi Takahiro/Stripes Japan)
The third and final white wooden torii holds the most sacred area of the shrine. Here, visitors go up the stairways to the main hall one after another to pray. The typical traditional shrine-style main hall has a large, blue-tiled roof and a white curtain with chrysanthemum crests.
Following others, I washed my hands with water from with a steel ladle and stepped up to the main hall to offer a traditional Shinto greeting by bowing twice, clapping my hands twice and then bowing deep once again.
War relics at Yushukan Museum
(Photo by Takiguchi Takahiro/Stripes Japan)
(Photo by Takiguchi Takahiro/Stripes Japan)
(Photo by Takiguchi Takahiro/Stripes Japan)
A visit to Yasukuni Shrine would not be complete without touring Yushukan, a war museum holding 100,000 articles, including war-related paintings, documents, armors, weapons, tanks and airplanes.
Other tragic weaponry like human-operated torpedoes were also displayed. The artifacts all have information in English, Chinese, Korean or Japanese.
Despite its many artifacts, this museum is controversial as it displays propaganda, has a questionable recounting of history and outright denies some of the acts committed by the Japanese government and military.
Profiles, letters and items of war dead were also displayed in other rooms. This close look at 5,000 casualties of war gives visitors a look at the human side of the conflicts Japan has participated in.
The shrine garden has a Noh stage and a sumo rink, along with various statues such as Mother of Warrior and Kamikaze Fighter.
Interestingly, there were also statues of various animals used in war, such as military dogs, horses and carrier pigeons.
Yasukuni shrine is also known as one of the best cherry blossom sites. In fact, the National Metrology Agency uses some of the trees there to determine the official start of cherry blossom season in Tokyo every spring.
End-of-war anniversary
In addition to visits by prime ministers and other politicians on Aug. 15, the shrine also observes the anniversary of the end of World War II with a memorial service.
From July 13-16, Mitama Matsuri is held to console the spirits enshrined at Yasukuni Shrine with 30,000 lanterns. On Aug. 15, white pigeons are released each year as a wish for world peace.
Yasukuni Jinja (Shinto shrine)
Address: 3-1 Kudankita, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo (a 3-minute walk from Kudanshita Station of Tokyo Metro)
Gate open: 6 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Yushukan Museum
Open: 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Admission: 1,000 yen, college students: 500 yen, High/Junior High School students: 300 yen
Website: https://www.yasukuni.or.jp/english/
Phone: 03-3261-8326
