Yasukuni Shrine and the Religious Spirit of the Japanese People

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Yasukuni Shrine celebrated its founding anniversary on June 29. Soon it will host the vibrant Mitama Festival, held from the evening of July 13 to July 16. Timed to coincide with the modern Obon season, the festival draws large crowds of worshippers. It stands alongside the annual spring and autumn festivals (April 22 and October 18) as one of the shrine's most significant annual events.

Over its three-week period, which also includes Okinawa Memorial Day on June 23, public attention naturally renews on the many issues surrounding Yasukuni Shrine. On a more personal note, July 10 marks the anniversary of the death of the shrine's sixth guji (chief priest), the late Nagakuni Matsudaira.

Matsudaira once observed that "Yasukuni is a shrine under intense political pressure." This reflection was born from the many political storms he faced and steadfastly navigated during his tenure as guji. Fortunately, the details of these struggles are preserved in Seiron Extra No. 33: 150 Years of Yasukuni Shrine – Spirits of the Fallen and the Emperor's Worship. The Sankei Shimbun published it in December 2018, and it stands as an invaluable historical record.

Weathering the Challenges

Even seven years after its release, the volume remains an authoritative resource, virtually an encyclopedia on Yasukuni Shrine. It provides clear and comprehensive answers to the wide range of questions readers continue to raise.

Most notably, it includes an annotated reprint of Matsudaira's post-retirement testimony, "The Real Reason Why the Emperor's Visits to Yasukuni Ceased." Many regard this as the most nuanced and definitive account of one of postwar Japan's most politically sensitive issues.

Thanks to the dedication of those who have long revered Yasukuni Shrine, it has weathered numerous challenges in the postwar era. A closer look at its outward form and its spiritual core reveals the shrine's striking consistency in upholding its identity, even through times of great upheaval. This enduring constancy serves as a powerful symbol of the original essence of Japanese religious sentiment.

Ancestor Worship and Ancestral Rites

At its core, the Japanese sense of religion is rooted in ancestor worship and the veneration of ancestral spirits. Many believe that through reverent rituals, these spirits transform into protective deities watching over their descendants.

This vertical bond, between the living and their deified forebears, eventually extends horizontally into community life. In turn, this gives rise to the ujigami (local guardian deities) and ujiko (parishioners) system, which is the spiritual foundation of villages across Japan. It was in this rich soil that Japanese religiosity took firm root.

From the late Heian period (794-1185) to the early Kamakura era (1185-1333), the idea of enshrining guardian deities on a national scale emerged from the warrior clans and feudal domains. By the mid-16th century, Japan engaged in increasingly complex diplomacy with Portugal, Spain, and Ming China. Out of this emerged a new awareness, a sense of Japan as a nation situated within the broader world.

*Visitors queue up in the summer heat to pay their respects. Yasukuni Shrine, August 15, 2024 (© JAPAN Forward by Daniel Manning)*

Enshrining a Sense of 'Nation'

In the mid-19th century, Western ships from the United States, Russia, and Britain began pressing Japan to open its ports. Many in Japan viewed these demands as a national crisis.

In response to the upheaval that followed, officials established the Shokonsha (literally 'soul-inviting shrine'). It enshrined those who died fighting for the imperial restoration in the Boshin War (1868–69). From the outset, its purpose was clear: to honor these fallen as "martyrs to the nation."

Following the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877, which resulted in even greater casualties than the Boshin War, the number of enshrined spirits exceeded 10,000. This prompted growing discomfort with the name Shokonsha, which implied a temporary resting place. The shrine's mission evolved into something more enduring: to permanently enshrine the spirits of those who gave their lives for the nation. In recognition of this, a new name was chosen — Yasukuni Shrine.

Reflecting Through Yasukuni

Nearly 150 years have passed since the founding of Yasukuni Shrine. In that time, Japan faced numerous overseas conflicts. From the First Sino-Japanese War to the Russo-Japanese War, there were approximately 130,000 war dead. Including the casualties of the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Greater East Asia War, Yasukuni Shrine has enshrined more than 2.32 million souls.

These individuals gave their lives in the noble service of defending the homeland. As such, the Japanese people revere them as guardian spirits of the nation. Their memory is honored not only by ordinary citizens. The Emperor himself also honors it, and has long offered sincere reverence as one protected by these spirits. This relationship of respect and devotion has endured, unchanged even after Japan's defeat in World War II.

If one were to ask what defines the religious spirit of the Japanese people, a question of academic depth, Yasukuni Shrine offers one of the most profound answers. The shrine's evolving relationship with the public reveals shifting perspectives within Japanese society. Views on war, the world, life and death, Shinto, Buddhism, and even monotheistic religions have all intersected through this relationship.

Seen through this lens, religion in Japan is not an isolated domain, but one deeply woven into the fabric of everyday life.

(Read the Seiron essay in Japanese.)

Author: Keiichiro Kobori, Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo

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