Yasukuni-jinja (ゃすくにんじゅ)

Given the amount of controversy the place seem to generate, I thought I would brave Tokyo's dreary chill and pay a visit to the infamous Yasukuni-jinja - Japan's Shrine for Establishing Peace in the Empire - dedicated to the war dead since 1853.

You may have seen pan-Asian popularity for prime minister after prime minister, from the ever flamboyant Junichirō Koizumi to the short lived Shinzo Abe, waning after a visit to pay their respects at the shrine on 15 August (anniversary of the WWII defeat). The belief in Japan is and has been for ages that the spirits of fallen soldiers live on, almost like deities, protecting villages, towns and the Empire and guiding the nation along the path of righteousness. The only problem is that a group of Class A war criminals are also enshrined at Yasukuni, and to put it lightly Japan were a fairly bad ass warring nation back in the day. (if in doubt please consult the Koreans, Chinese or Indonesians for further information).

After walking around the shrine itself I headed over to the adjacent museum, a well put together collection of Japanese war memorabilia from more or less medieval times to WWII. Don't get me wrong, any museum dedicated to telling the story of a nation is bound to have some degree of bias . But that said it was still a very interesting place to wander around. For example they have a letter from a Japanese General (I think) to President Roosevelt justifying Japan's actions at Pearl Harbour as an act of defence from the national self destruction they were being forced into by the US.

I also got to see an actual kaiten (aka kamikaze torpedo) which is pretty much a human driven torpedo. Given that I had never even heard about these before it was pretty awesome. By the by, did you know that kamikaze meant "divine wind"? Apart from the vast quantity of war related propaganda there were also some great bits of war memorabilia including what looked like medieval feudal warlord battle regalia.

So if you ever find yourself in Tokyo with some time to kill. Why not head over to Kudanshita and check out Yasukuni and the surrounding area. Its certainly worth a visit and my guess is it will look amazing when the sakura (cherry blossoms) are in bloom.

"Bodies may perish. But spirits never die.
They remain in the realm between the heavens and earth for all eternity.
Valiantly guiding us along the path of righteousness."
- Fujita Toko (1806 - 55) "Ode to righteousness"