hankyoreh

Tokyo correspondent)

By Jeong Nam-ku, Tokyo correspondent

Past a gate in the fence to the left of Yasukuni Shrine, steps lead down to a place where two small shrines are nestled in the trees as though hidden away. The one on the left is Chinreisha, where rites are held for the spirits of soldiers who have died in the years since Japan was ruled by an Emperor. The honorees are the same as Yasukuni‘s - the only difference is that no rites are held at that shrine. Why did Yasukuni build this other shrine in 1965, nearly ninety years after its precursor, Shokon Shrine, went up in 1869?

Chinreisha(鎮霊社)

Rites are understood to have been staged at Chinreisha before Oct. 17, 1978, when 14 Class A war criminals were enshrined. Yasukuni had previously decided to enshrine the war criminals there in June 1965, but the matter of timing was left for the head priest to decide. The circumstances suggest that even the shrine’s directors were well aware the enshrinement of class A war criminals would become a major issue later.

The Yasukuni Shrine has not yet confirmed nor denied having moved class A war criminals from Chinreisha. Japanese historian Ikuhiko Hata said, “It would be contradictory for the Yasukuni Shrine to rite class A war criminals at Chinreisha. On the basis of the Yasukuni Shrine’s principle, all soldiers should be honored there.”

One year after Yasukuni enshrined class A war criminals, the fact became publicly known through an article in the Asahi Shimbun on Apr. 19. The last time that Japanese Emperor Hirohito paid his respects at Yasukuni Shrine was Nov. 21, 1975. Hirohito never returned to the shrine, nor did his successor, Emperor Akihito.

According to a note left by Tomohiko Tomita, who served as the chief of the Imperial Household Agency during the reign of Hirohito, the emperor expressed strong discomfort with the fact that the class A war criminals were enshrined at Yasukuni. It is generally accepted that that was the reason that he did not visit the shrine after that.

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