As many as 2.4 million men, women and children, and even various animals, are enshrined here.
In addition, Yasukuni Shrine honor thousands of Taiwanese and Koreans who served Japan and were killed in action.
In Shinto religion, anyone who died fighting for the emperor is aneirei, or hero spirit.
The enshrined souls themselves are believed to have transcended intokamior deities.
No wonder, the Yasukuni Shrine is a very holy place for remembering, reflection, and prayer.
Yasukuni Shrine, Tokyo.
Photo credit:Toshihiro Gamo/Flickr
But the shrine is also a very sensitive and controversial place.
Countless young Asian women wereforced into sex-slaveryto entertain the troops.
Most Japanese history textbooks gloss over the controversial parts while others deny them outright.
Some believe the Nanjing Massacre never happened.
These sentiments are reflected by many right-wing politicians.
The Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal of 1946 identifiedthree classesof war criminals.
These charges were filed against Japan’s political and military leaders who had planned and directed the war.
These were the highest ranking people in the Japanese war machine.
Class C were those criminals charged with crimes against humanity.
Japanese war criminals stand trial before the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, in Tokyo.
This restored the civil rights of the criminals.
The authorities did not even seek permission from the surviving family members, some of who opposed the enshrinement.
His successor, Matsudaira Nagayoshi, thought differently.
Rejecting the verdict of the tribunal, Matsudaira decided to enshrine Japans Class A war criminals at Yasukuni.
When word got out the following year, Emperor Hirohito refused to enter the shrine.
Since that time, no Emperor of Japan has visited Yasukuni.
Some demonstration have turned violent.
In 2011, a Chinese man attempted to burn down a gate column at Yasukuni and was arrested.
In 2015, a South Korean man blew up a restroom inside the shrine.
Any foreign national who visited the shrine have drawn ire from the public.
He later took down the photos and offered an apology.
The Yasukuni Shrine continues to be a thorn in the relationship between Japan and its neighboring countries.
Ordered the capture of the city of Nanjing);Heitaro Kimura(General in the Imperial Japanese Army.
Mastermind behind the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Helped plan the 1931 Mukden Incident, which was used to justify increased military operations in China).
