in 1871 The
Chōshū Domain and
Satsuma Domain in the
Bakumatsu era established a place for the spirits of the martyrs and war dead of national affairs, and held a ceremony to honor them. The
Royal court also held a
Satsuma Domain ceremony to honor the spirits of the martyrs and war dead in 1868 June 29 (May 10, Keio 4), in accordance with the
Dajokanbunsho, Article 385 refers to 1853 (Kaei 6). The
Hokora (Reizan Kansai Shokonsha, later
Kyoto Ryozen Gokoku Shrine). On July 21 of the same year (June 2,
Keiō 4/the first year of Meiji),
Chikahito Arisugawa, the Grand Governor of the Eastern Expedition, held a ceremony in the hall of
Edo Castle to honor the war dead of the government forces. Similarly,
domains and other local
feudal lords held ceremonies for the war dead of their clansmen or at places where they were related to them. The following year, 1869 (the 2nd year of Meiji), "Tokyo Shokonsha" (later
Yasukuni Shrine) was built on Kudanzaka in Tokyo to enshrine the war dead since the
Boshin Senso. With the
abolition of the han system of 1871 (Meiji 4), private temples built by former feudal lords or the people were placed under the jurisdiction of the new Meiji government, and in 1874 (Meiji 7), it was decided to exempt temples from land tax and to pay for ritual fees and repairs at government expense. In 1875 (Meiji 8), it was decided to enshrine the spirits of the dead since 1853 (Kaei 6) at the Tokyo Shokonsha. The shrine names were unified to Shokonsha while the various places of worship remained in place as before. On June 4, 1879, Tokyo Shokonsha was renamed
Yasukuni Jinja. The name
Yasukuni, quoted from the phrase「 in the classical-era Chinese text
Zuo Zhuan (Scroll 6, 23rd Year of Duke Xi), literally means "Pacifying the Nation" and was chosen by the
Meiji Emperor. It was listed as a Bekkaku Kanpeisha in the
modern system of ranked Shinto shrines.
Shokonsha Gokoku shrines (shokonsha) originated in the
Meiji Restoration when it was observed that the concept of honoring war dead was present in the
Western world but not in
Japan. This was particularly noteworthy with the
1874 Japanese invasion of Taiwan in which only 12 people were enshrined in
Yasukuni Shrine. The fundamental principle behind the Shokonsha system is that it is designed to enshrine people as heroes regardless of their status before their deaths. The Shokonsha system became much more seriously implemented with the
Satsuma Rebellion in 1877 from which 6,959 people were enshrined. The name "Shokonsha" was changed to Gokoku Shrine because there was a contradiction in the name, since "Shokonsha" refers to a temporary or temporary ritual and "Sha" refers to a permanent facility. The name "Gokoku" was coined from the phrase "I wish to establish a foundation for the protection of the nation" in the draft order
rescript of
December 28, 1872 (November 28, 1872) and in the January 4, 1882
Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors, "If you devote yourself to the protection of the nation," etc., was adopted because it was the most appropriate way to praise the deeds of the deities and because it was familiar to people who had already used terms such as "heroic spirit of national defense" and the like. The total number of Gokoku Shrines is estimated to be 131 as of April 1939 (Showa 14). They are divided into designated Gokoku Shrines, which correspond to prefectural shrines designated by the Minister of Home Affairs, and undesignated Gokoku Shrines, which correspond to other village shrines.
After World War II Following
World War II the system was privatized, but the Gokoku shrines and
Yasukuni Shrine still exist today and can be seen as continuations of the Shokonsha system. With the acceptance of the
Potsdam Declaration in August 1945, Japan became the first country to receive the
occupation, Gokoku Shrine was considered a
militarist institution and had to be renamed, for example, by removing the word "Gokoku" from its name, in order to ensure its continued existence. When the
Treaty of San Francisco went into effect in 1952 and Japan regained its
sovereignty, the majority of the renamed shrines returned to their former names. After
World War II, some of the designated shrines of the
Jinja Honcho became
Beppyo shrines. Although some of the deities of each shrine overlap with those of
Yasukuni Shrine, the deities of each shrine are not separated from Yasukuni Shrine, and they perform their own rituals by inviting the souls of their own deities. Therefore, officially, Gokoku Shrine is "not in a headquarter branch relationship with Yasukuni Shrine. However, Yasukuni Shrine and Gokoku Shrine, which both enshrine the spirits of the dead, are deeply involved and have various exchanges. Zenkoku Gokoku Jinja-kai (formerly Urayasu-kai), organized by 52 major Gokoku Shrines, works in cooperation with Yasukuni Shrine and conducts various activities to honor the spirits of the dead. The Okinawa Gokoku-jinja Shrine also enshrines the dead of the
Battle of Okinawa, including ordinary residents, schoolchildren in distress, and civilian war dead. In addition, about 10,000 mobilized students and female volunteer corps members who were victims of the
Atomic bomb are also enshrined as deities at
Hiroshima Gokoku Shrine. After the issuance of the
Shinto Directive by GHQ after World War II, the state no longer had the authority to direct and supervise shrines, and the decree stipulating that the deities of Gokoku Shrine were the deities of Yasukuni Shrine expired. Perhaps due to the lapse of the law and the suggestion of Hideo Kishimoto
Tokyo Imperial University, then assistant professor of the Faculty of Letters, some Gokoku Shrines began to dedicate other deities than Yasukuni Shrine to be enshrined in the Gokoku Shrines. In total, there are 23 Gokoku Shrines enshrining local greats and Self Defense Force officers who died in the line of duty in Sapporo, Akita, Niigata, Fukushima, Tochigi, Yamanashi, Nagano, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui, Matsue, Ehime, Kagawa, Tokushima, Kochi, Yamaguchi, Saga, Oita, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Miyazaki, Kagoshima and Okinawa. According to "A Consideration of the Enshrinement of Martyred Self-Defense Forces at Gokoku Shrine" by Daishi Shimaya, "In most Gokoku Shrines, when deities other than Yasukuni Shrine are enshrined, they are enshrined in a separate deity body from the main shrine, and are clearly distinguished. This is a clear distinction. One example of a Gokoku Shrine that faced challenges is the Meguro Gokoku Shrine in Tokyo's Meguro Ward. The shrine was previously managed by the Meguro Gokoku Shrine Venerable Society, which was established in 1959. However, the staff responsible for the shrine died and the land was sold. An audit found the building had been destroyed, and it was subsequently demolished in May 2008. == Controversy ==