Yasukuni Jinja

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I did my last improptu sightseeing of my time here in Japan today to one of the few places I knew I had to go see before I even got here, Yasukuni Jinja. It made the news a few times recently because of controversies over who is enshrined there and who made visits. The second "who" was former Prime Minister Koizumi, who made official visits to the shrine to give tribute to the war dead enshrined there. These are war dead from the 1860s onward to the end of WWII. The big stink was made by China and Korea, who still harbor bitter feelings against Japans occupationm and who tend to make a big stink over anything that may even hint, and some that dont, at Japanese nationalism.

What I did not realize until recently, is that that Japanese people as well opposed this visit in terms of official business of the office of the PM. Some of my friends said they would not have opposed it had he gone as an individual. Furthermore, my host father hates the place; he is dead set against things having to do with the Japanese military. My host family explains it as the top military leaders tricked the Emperor and the entire country to fight a meaningless war and give their lives in vain to some perverted idea of ultranationalism constructed around their peaceful emperor. THe actual leadership structure during war time is something I will have to look up, but here is one thing that is striking, and that is the former "who" mentioned in this entry. Who is enshrined. There ar over 2,000,000 soldiers enshrined to become "Kami" or shinto spirits in the halls of the shrine. However one of them is General Hideki Tojo, a convicted class A war criminal, one of the 5 men hanged in Japan for the war and war crimes, leader of the Japanese Army during war time, developer of the ultranationalist education indoctrination system, and prime minister of Japan from 1941 to its defeat. To draw a western comparison, I visited the tomb of the Japanese Hitler.

Phrased that way, its clear why people have issues with his enshrinement and the temple itself. But moral and political issues aside, today, when I realized any more studying was hopeless, I hopped a train from Waseda to Kudanshita, 4 stops away, and took a little look myself. It was spur of the moment so I didnt have my camera on me. There is actually a week long festival going on so the temple grounds were decorated and lined with food vendors. Some of the festival goers were in summer yukata. While in word, Yasukuni is the Arlington National Cemetary of Japan, it did not have the feeling as such. Perhaps that is why people still go, despite the enshrinement of Tojo and 13 other Class A War criminals. Because the religion, the solemnity, and meaning surrounding Japanese shrines, and shinto has all but disappeared.

The grounds were enormous, flanked by big stone gates. Lining the grounds are yellow lanterns and memorials, I am guessing that is where the names of the enshrined however Im not sure of that one. The controversies aside, it looked like a normal temple except for a few features. There were 5 statues off to one side (remember this is a war memorial):a widow, a kamikaze pilot, a dog, carrier pigeon, and horse. The widow and animals served as a reminder that more died than just the soldiers in Japans wars. The horse monument was especially well done, with the sign made out of twisted horse shoes. At the base of the horse monument there was a single, fresh, orange carrot.

What I saw today was a telling representation of how mixed up the Japanese are towards their past, especially WWII. From WWII, the country was anihilated, and expressions of militarism were banned by the Constitution, and nationalism was supressed by its neighbors to the extent that the national anthem and rising sun flag only became official in the 1990s. Today I saw people praying and giving offerrings to war dead and people eating big fat ice cream cones on a high school date within meters of each other. And then there are people like my host parents, who simply avoid the place because of its war-like connotation. Japan is an interesting place, and while excellent for honing language skills, Waseda is not up to Lafayettes level if you are a native english speaker who wants to get some work done. Getting back home, Yasukuni and its history is one of the many ways I would like to take my Japan study outside of the language alone.

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Comments

[mom]

Yasunkuni
We also visited the memorial while in Tokyo with your Host Father. Similar sentiments from him to us. The festival was being set up and it was a carnival like atmosphere. The yellow lanterns are not the names of the deceased soldiers, but rather the names and sentiments of those who come there to visit the loved ones buried there. As with the rest of what we saw in Japan, such a mix of the old and new. Almost as if Japan does not know where to fit in. Interesting. xox mom

[Granpa]

See ya on the 21st
Interesting, very interesting. One of the things you were particularly interested in finding out was WWII from their perspective. Guess you found some answers.