What Yasukuni Shrine is — and the year 14 war criminals entered it
Yasukuni Shrine is a Tokyo shrine to Japan’s war dead, founded in 1869 as Tokyo Shokonsha and renamed in 1879, which enshrines roughly 2,466,532 people including 21,181 Koreans and, since a secret enshrinement in 1978, fourteen Class-A war criminals convicted at the Tokyo Tribunal
The three lines
- Scale — about 2,466,532 enshrined, including 21,181 Koreans. The shrine decides enshrinement unilaterally, without the consent of families
- 1978 — fourteen Class-A war criminals were secretly enshrined; the fact became public in 1979. No emperor has visited since; the last imperial visit was 1975
- Why they are not removed — the shrine holds that once enshrined, a spirit merges with the others and cannot be separated, and refuses requests for 分祀 on that doctrine
Key questions
- What is Yasukuni Shrine?
- A Shinto shrine in Tokyo dedicated to Japan's war dead. It was founded in 1869 by the Meiji government as Tokyo Shokonsha and renamed Yasukuni — 'pacifying the nation' — by the Meiji Emperor in 1879. About 2,466,532 people are enshrined there. What distinguishes it from an ordinary shrine is that it does not venerate a deity but enshrines, as deities, those who died in the wars of modern Japan — from the civil conflicts after the Meiji Restoration through the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese wars to the Pacific War.
- Why do Korea and China protest when Japanese leaders visit?
- Because of the 1978 enshrinement of fourteen men convicted as Class-A war criminals at the Tokyo Tribunal. They include Tojo Hideki, prime minister during the Pacific War; Koiso Kuniaki, a former Governor-General of Korea; Itagaki Seishiro, an architect of the Manchurian Incident; and Hirota Koki, held responsible for the Nanjing Massacre. The enshrinement became public in 1979. For countries that were colonised or invaded, a head of government paying respects at a site that venerates the men who directed that war is the point of objection.
- Why not just remove the fourteen?
- That request is called 分祀 — separation — and the shrine has refused it. Its stated ground is doctrinal: once enshrined, a spirit merges with the others and cannot be individually separated. The same doctrine has a second consequence. Yasukuni decides enshrinement unilaterally, without family consent, which is why 21,181 Koreans are enshrined regardless of their families' wishes, and why requests to remove those names are refused on the same reasoning.
The same news recurs every August 15. A Japanese minister visited Yasukuni Shrine; Seoul protested.
Recurring news tends to lose its background. This document supplies only that. Why does one shrine become a diplomatic matter every year?
1. The basics
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1869, as Tokyo Shokonsha (東京招魂社) |
| Renamed | 1879, as Yasukuni (靖國), by the Meiji Emperor |
| Location | Chiyoda, Tokyo |
| Function | Shrine to the war dead |
| Enshrined | ~2,466,532 |
| Of whom Korean | 21,181 |
"Yasukuni" means, roughly, pacifying the nation. The name itself is bound to the state.
The decisive difference from an ordinary Shinto shrine is this: Yasukuni does not venerate a deity. It enshrines, as deities, those who died in the wars of modern Japan — from the civil conflicts following the Meiji Restoration through the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese wars to the Pacific War.
2. 1978 — the year that changed everything
The point at which the shrine became a diplomatic problem is precise.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1975 | Last imperial visit (Emperor Hirohito) |
| 1978 | Fourteen Class-A war criminals secretly enshrined |
| 1979 | The enshrinement becomes public |
| Thereafter | No emperor visits |
The decision has names attached. Chief priest Tsukuba Fujimaro withheld the enshrinement until his death in 1978; his successor, Matsudaira Nagayoshi, carried it out in secret that same year.
Among the fourteen, the names most recognised in Korea:
| Person | Role |
|---|---|
| Tojo Hideki | Prime minister; directed the Pacific War |
| Koiso Kuniaki | Governor-General of Korea |
| Itagaki Seishiro | Architect of the Manchurian Incident |
| Hirota Koki | Held responsible for the Nanjing Massacre |
A former Governor-General of Korea is on that list. It is one reason Korea treats the issue with an intensity other countries do not.
Emperor Hirohito is reported to have expressed displeasure on learning of the enshrinement and never visited again. The timing supports the reading — his last visit was 1975, three years before. But the account rests on aide memoranda released later, not on any statement by him.
3. Why the fourteen are not removed
This is the most frequent question and the most consistently refused request. Korea and China have long sought 分祀 — separation of the fourteen.
The shrine's answer is doctrinal.
Once enshrined, a spirit merges with the others and cannot be individually separated.
The doctrine does not stop at one problem. The same logic runs in another direction.
| Question | Shrine's position |
|---|---|
| Separate the Class-A war criminals | Not possible |
| Family consent required to enshrine | No — the shrine decides alone |
| Remove the 21,181 Korean names | Refused on the same ground |
Enshrinement happens whether or not families want it. Koreans conscripted into the Japanese military during the colonial period are enshrined there, and requests from their families for removal are refused by the same doctrine. Litigation has been filed repeatedly; this document did not establish the current status.
4. Visits, and the meaning of form
| Year | Person | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Emperor Hirohito | Last imperial visit |
| 1985 | PM Nakasone Yasuhiro | Drew protests from Korea and China |
| 2001-2006 | PM Koizumi Junichiro | Repeated visits in office |
| 2013 | PM Abe Shinzo | December visit; diplomatic friction |
What repays attention is form. Japanese prime ministers have developed a set of compromises.
| Form | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Personal visit | Strongest signal, largest diplomatic cost |
| Tamagushi ritual offering | No visit, but a signal to the domestic base |
| Sent as party president, not prime minister | Separates public office from private capacity |
| Visiting the war memorial cemetery instead | Avoids Yasukuni while still commemorating |
August 15, 2026 was the textbook case. Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae sent a tamagushi offering as LDP president and visited Tokyo's war memorial cemetery herself. Defence minister Koizumi Shinjiro visited Yasukuni in person shortly after 7am — the first sitting defence minister in two years. What happened that day is covered in "Japan's defence minister visits Yasukuni on August 15, 2026."
5. Common questions
Do Japanese people generally support these visits? No. Yasukuni visits are contested inside Japan too. Constitutional suits alleging breach of the separation of religion and state have been filed repeatedly, and some bereaved families oppose the enshrinement of their own relatives.
Is commemorating war dead itself the problem? That is not the objection. The objection is structural — that the fourteen Class-A war criminals are enshrined in the same facility. Japan maintains a separate non-religious national cemetery at Chidorigafuchi, and prime ministers who choose it over Yasukuni are choosing precisely around this.
Does Seoul respond the same way every year? The responding body and the intensity vary with the case. In 2026, because it was the defence minister, the defence ministry summoned Japan's defence attaché rather than the foreign ministry acting.
6. What is not settled
The enshrinement figures were not checked against primary sources. The 2,466,532 and 21,181 totals come from shrine records.
The imperial non-visit explanation is interpretation, resting on timing and aide memoranda rather than a public statement.
The status of removal litigation is unknown. Repeated filings are confirmed; current proceedings are not.
This document covers the recurring background; each year's events are handled in separate articles.
Sources
- Wikipedia (Korean) — Yasukuni Shrine
- Northeast Asian History Foundation — Historical issues: the Yasukuni Shrine question
- YTN — Why Yasukuni refuses to separate the Class-A war criminals
- IDJ News — 'Yasukuni Shrine', a temple of war
- New Daily — Takaichi withholds visit, sends offering; defence minister and LDP executives go
- Newspim — Korea's defence ministry protests Koizumi's Yasukuni visit