What is the controversy surrounding Japan's Yasukuni shrine?

The Mainichi

08-06-2025

Amid calls that Self-Defense Force members be honored at Tokyo's Yasukuni Jinja shrine if they die in war, some have questioned the legitimacy of such a move in light of the Japanese Constitution, which stipulates the separation of religion and state. The Mainichi Shimbun answers some common questions readers may have about the controversial shrine where Class-A war criminals are enshrined.
Question: What kind of place is Yasukuni shrine?
Answer: Located in Kudankita in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward, Yasukuni shrine's origin goes back to the "Tokyo Shokonsha" (Tokyo soul-inviting shrine) founded in 1869 to honor the pro-imperial loyalists of the Meiji Restoration and government soldiers who died in the Boshin War in the late 19th century. It was renamed Yasukuni Jinja in 1879. Approximately 2,466,000 people who died in conflicts including the First Sino-Japanese War in the 1890s and the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War, as well as the Pacific War in the 1940s are collectively enshrined there as "eirei" (heroic spirits of the war dead).
Q: What does it mean to collectively enshrine eirei?
A: Eirei is an honorific term for the spirits of those who died in war. At Yasukuni shrine, the names of the war dead are written in a registry called a "reijibo" (spirit ledger), and through a formal ritual, the multiple spirits are enshrined collectively.
Q: Who are enshrined there?
A: The shrine primarily enshrines military personnel and civilian military employees, but it also includes mobilized nurses, student workers killed in air raids on military factories and conscripted Koreans, on the grounds that they "participated in combat under military orders." Because they are enshrined regardless of the wishes of the individuals or their families, some bereaved relatives object.
Q: What is the controversy about?
A: Before and during World War II, Yasukuni shrine was closely tied to militarism and was used to encourage the public to support the war. Many soldiers died, saying to each other, "I'll see you again at Yasukuni," as their final words before charging into the enemy lines. The major point of controversy is the enshrinement in 1978 of 14 Class-A war criminals, including former Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, who were held responsible for planning and directing the war.
Q: Visits by Japanese politicians often make the news too, right?
A: Yes. Since then Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone's official visit in 1985, prime ministers' visits to Yasukuni shrine have frequently triggered diplomatic issues. China and South Korea criticize the visits, calling Yasukuni a "symbol of militarism" and accusing Japan of taking a wrong stance on historical issues. In Japan, too, such visits have been brought to court as violations of the separation of religion and state.
Q: There was talk about establishing an alternative memorial facility. How's that going?
A: Yasukuni shrine became a religious corporation after WWII. It maintains that "once a spirit is enshrined, it cannot be removed," and does not allow the separation of Class-A war criminals. In response to the backlash -- both at home and abroad -- over then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's 2001 visit, a private advisory panel for the chief Cabinet secretary suggested the need to create a "permanent, secular, national memorial facility." Due to opposing views, however, the debate over this matter faded and remains stalled to this day.