Nation Protecting Shrines ...
Nation-protecting shrines, or gokoku jinja, were established in 1939 as regional branches of Yasukuni Jinja. After the Boshin War (1868-9), a new form of national veneration of the war dead began, drawing especially upon Shinto and Confucian traditions. These temporary spirit-summoning (shokon) site...
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | unknown |
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Zenodo
2024
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| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12574514 https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.12574514 |
| Summary: | Nation-protecting shrines, or gokoku jinja, were established in 1939 as regional branches of Yasukuni Jinja. After the Boshin War (1868-9), a new form of national veneration of the war dead began, drawing especially upon Shinto and Confucian traditions. These temporary spirit-summoning (shokon) sites spread and were eventually transformed into permanent shrines for venerating the collective eirei, or "glorious dead", of those who had given their life for the emperor and nation. Although nation-protecting shrines were legally Shinto shrines (jinja), they were distinguished from regular Shinto shrines by their veneration of the collective recent dead, their parallel but separate ranking system, and their joint management by the military and home office. The veneration of the war dead at Yasukuni Jinja and the gokoku shrines was one of the most visible manners in which the imperial state mobilized its subjects to war. During the American occupation of Japan, gokoku shrines were allowed to exist as private ... |
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