sechan19 | Peaceful Rambles at Japan's War Shrine.

I betook myself yesterday on a long walk along Tokyo's Yasukuni dori Avenue, ending at the famed Yasukuni shrine. For those of you who read my thesis, Yasukuni figured prominently in that work as an example of how modern Japanese continue to relate to issues of death and the supernatural. I was very eager to visit the shrine myself and discover it on a first-hand basis.

My visit there was delightful and surprising. Rather than finding even a single hint of the controversy that the foreign press loves to assign to Yasukuni (which is Japan's war shrine - honoring those who fought and died for the nation, including a number of Class-A war criminals much to the international community's chagrin), I found only peaceful tranquility. Families sprinkled fish food into the coi pond, while children laughing looked on. Elderly women swapped giggling gossip in the gardens. The faithful quietly communed with the Kami. The connotations I expected the place to exude in actuality formed no part of the essence of Yasukuni, and I was wholeheartedly delighted with it. I hope to return and make it one of my spots. It's proximity to my school makes it a very desirable haunt, and more than that I felt a deep connection to the spot.

I sat in the garden for half-an-hour, watching visitors come and go, and then I made my way to the shrine - where I gave offerings and prayed, clapping my hands to get the attention of the Kami and bowing to them in deep respect and love. Shintoism very much suits me - as it reflects my belief that God has many faces. I like the multi-headed face of God that I find in Shinto, and I value being able to love a rock or a tree (or a lamppost) as much as I love the infinite unknowable.

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From:

lordameth.livejournal.com

I agree completely, both on Yasukuni and on Shinto. I felt more spiritual, more relaxed and peaceful, and more a part of the world around me, at shrines and temples in Japan than I ever have in a synogogue at home. God needn't be worshipped as an abstract, unknowable figure, praised out of a book and worshipped in a concrete building. We should learn to see His influence in everything around us, and to appreciate the world He made.

As for Yasukuni, I was actually disappointed, maybe even a little angry, that it wasn't a darker, more unsettling, more controversial place.

From:

reteva.livejournal.com

For me it was actually something of a vindication to find Yasukuni so peaceful and devoid of strife. One of my main thesis points was that foreign arguments about the sinister nature of Yasukuni complete failed to take into account how a reverence of the dead was (and is) such a natural thing for the Japanese. One of my professors actually fought me on that issue (although I held out), and it was very satisfying to me to find the shrine much more in line with the natural, unpretentious attitude I'd suggested in my paper.

That said, I'm always disappointed when things are less dark than I might fantasize so I feel you there. I nearly cried when I discovered the Paris catacombs weren't in the slightest bit spooky. ;)

From:

muroku.livejournal.com

I think it's wonderful how successful you have become in your studies and that you must have good karma built up for you to pursue your dreams.

Rather than finding even a single hint of the controversy that the foreign press loves to assign to Yasukuni (which is Japan's war shrine -honoring those who fought and died for the nation, including a number of Class-A war criminals much to the international community's chagrin),

keep in mind that those who protest were descended from victims butchered by those spirits now at rest in Yasukuni--it is not the "press" who assign controversy only. They have a RIGHT to feel "chagrin". It's not the annoyance of a buzzing fly around their heads, it's sadness and anger that comes with Japan's government lying and even labelling victims as prostitutes etc. While some of those who died for Imperial Japan were Koreans in the Japanese Navy (irony) they are "honored" because they served Japan's emperor. Their own countrymen were slaughtered thoughtlessly by the Japanese and their voices were and continue to be silenced by the Japanese Yen. Even the House of Rep. of the USA is being muzzled by a trade agreement.

Chinese/Koreans/Southeast Asians who see Yasukuni as another piece of the puzzle of Japan's white washing of their history have every right to despise Yasukuni. Those cultures fully grasp worship of the dead you see. They despise the war criminals. People should acknowledge that some groups of protestors are clear that they have no gripe against modern day Japanese, in other words they don't want a "race war". They even partner up with the literally handful of Japanese who valiantly try to shed truth on their country's past.

One wonders why so few Japanese are willing to fight for the truth. Many are willing to "commune with the kami" and turn a blind eye when some of their children are being taught history with faulty revisionist text.

As an academic I'd like to mention a phenomena common amongst foreign scholars who study a different culture. As researchers, they must be aware of their own sensitivities before proceeding in their studies.

Understand that Yasukuni is just the ONE shrine people know of. There is a museum at Okinawa which blatantly lies about WW2 and fail to mention that Japanese troops encouraged Okinawans to kill themselves because Allied troops would treat them the way they treated Chinese/Koreans/Southeast ASians.

If Yasukuni is a place of peace and love, then I think photos need to show that the interior display near the religious location has now been REVISED to accurately portray the WAR OF AGGRESSION which IMperial JAPAN STARTED first in CHINA. They justify Pearl Harbor because of the fuel embargo imposed by Americans. Yet the war started in CHINA and they can't seem to cover that up very well. That is an example of Japanese "cherry picking" facts to continue to revere their ancestors who were in the wrong.

Please don't take this the wrong way:

In an effort to "feel" Japanese, some scholars abandon their own stance to become as native as possible. They seek reconciliation and understanding when what is really happening to their vision is they see a deadly discus as a soft and beautiful lotus. They can explain the history of an issue, the symbolism of this and that, but they cannot see something right in front of them. It is as if a hair has obscured a mountain from their field of vision.

These scholars, as Donald Calman stated, are bridge-building academics who are noble and full of good intentions. They also eventually betray their prime goal of being critical and fair in their studies. Some of these scholars even receive grants and awards from prestigious foundations supported by the Japanese. In other words, these scholars do not know that their work has been compromised because they are getting the support because they are saying what the Japanese want to hear.

I study Thailand.
If a foreigner sees and injustice then she should state it and not sacrifice an internal need to "be Thai" and become complacent.

Suppress the ego for the greater good and fulfill the true role of the scholar: that is to write and see the truth.

From:

muroku.livejournal.com

I forgot to mention that foreign scholars should value their unique position. They can write/say what native scholars cannot.

Japanese scholars would be harassed were they to come out and write against the "master narrative". Some publish critical works in US or European presses.

Thus, a foreign scholar should not make it a goal to "be" that culture when it is actually impossible.

From:

muroku.livejournal.com

When Japan builds a shrine to honor the victims of their brutality then kami, who seek purity, can dwell in peace. And those who cry for Japan to be truthful will finally stop and forgive.

Were the kami to gravitate to those who are pure and become one with them, I doubt they would accept the likes of Tojo.

From:

reteva.livejournal.com

A shrine honoring victims of war would indeed be a lovely sight. As regards Yasukuni and its honoring of war dead - while I certainly see nothing good in the Japanese war machine of the Second World War, I think that a view of Yasukuni that treats it as only another piece of the puzzle in Japan's white-washing of their actions then is too narrow to be wholly justifiable. The entire Japanese relationship to the dead must be understood when considering the problem of Yasukuni. This is not mere ancestor worship - this is the quieting of restless spirits (spirits whose violent deaths may have left them agitated and potentially dangerous) who might otherwise cause harm to the country as a whole. The entire idea of the war shrine centers on an ingrained sense of national obligation to the dead.

Additionally, the shrine honors thousands of men who gave their lives for the nation, and regardless of what side of a conflict a nation may be on I think it has a right to appreciate the sacrifices (however misguided) of the men (and as we move into the 21st century - the women) who served in wartime. As a parallel example, I would never have a problem with a memorial to the soldiers who have died in the present Iraqi conflict - even though I consider that conflict to be completely illegal and immoral - and I would not see a tribute to them as being necessarily a tribute to the conflict itself.

It's also worth considering that Yasukuni itself was not constructed with the purpose of honoring the soldiers of WWII. It has been a shrine dedicated to war dead since 1869. The museum located there is another story entirely - being a newer addition and having far more questionable motives of operation.

Thanks for the comments. Please keep them coming! I'm very curious to read Donald Calman's work, and I appreciate you making me aware of him.

From:

reteva.livejournal.com

I'd also like to say (as an aside) that as an American, I don't feel that my own country's role in the Second World War was all that noble - particularly as regards Asia. I personally do not believe the United States would have ever lifted a finger to help anyone at that time had the Japanese not been so foolish as to make a first strike. And heaven help the countries of Asia had it been European "colonists" waging war against China and Korea. No one would have cared then. This is not to justify Japanese action at all (nothing could); it is merely to chastise Western tendencies of response, which often think themselves high and mighty when in reality they are not.

From:

muroku.livejournal.com

I am fully aware of Yasukuni's history since the "Restoration" as there are even efforts made by Aizu to have their dead incorporated into the war shrine.

My point is a shrine to the *victims* of the IMperial Army although a sane move for you or I, would be UNTHINKABLE to the Japanese.

Even Peter Williams' documentary on UNIT 731 shows a shrine to guinea pigs sacrificed to labs in Japan.

There are no shrines to the Allied Troops nor countless Chinese killed in the biowarfare lab run by Ishii (fully sanctioned by Hirohito's brother, later Ishii worked for the US gov).

We know that it is good and dandy that restless spirits are laid to rest (there are countless shrines to the Shinsengumi---usually constructed not by the enemy but by sympathizers)...the conclusion is...you get a shrine if you fought and died on THEIR SIDE and follow the MASTER NARRATIVE still spouted in schools and a handful of revisionist texts and conservative politicians.

Peace and love in Yasukuni and appreciation of the likes of Tojo.

The Japanese can embrace Tojo for now he is not an "individual" but one with martyrs which he helped brainwashed. Those young kamikaze pilots did not die only in defense of their country, they died because since their childhood the educational system helped made them more susceptible to the military machine.

One can appreciate the sacrifice, however one must admit the majority of the Japanese whilst communing with the kami have no interest in facing the truth of their past, that is why few of them are willing to fight for historical accuracy

If you have a chance to see youtube simply search for TAMAGAWABOAT , who like other right wing nuts encourage Japanese to worship at Yasukuni not to seek purity, but to revere the honorable men who led their country into a glorious war.

The fact that nutcases like him hijack Yasukuni (and Japanese have no problem with them doing so) speaks volumes of how complacent they have become.

From:

muroku.livejournal.com

I think that a view of Yasukuni that treats it as only another piece of the puzzle in Japan's white-washing of their actions then is too narrow to be wholly justifiable.

That is why I ask visitors to take photos of the adjoining mini-museum which still is completely a revisionist portrayal of WWII

have they corrected the displays?

If they have not, that display and the shrine is as I said, part of the agenda to paint WWII as a heroic war on the part of the Japanese

If those displays are not corrected then clearly, the shrine is part of the process

The entire Japanese relationship to the dead must be understood when considering the problem of Yasukuni. This is not mere ancestor worship - this is the quieting of restless spirits (spirits whose violent deaths may have left them agitated and potentially dangerous) who might otherwise cause harm to the country as a whole. The entire idea of the war shrine centers on an ingrained sense of national obligation to the dead.

I am familiar with ancestor worship and the familial and national obligation to the dead. Now, they should be obligated to quiet the Indian soldiers cannibalized by the Imperial Army.

To note, I have never met a professor of Japanese studies who would take the stance that Yasukuni is not an attempt to make noble WWII.

Even those who strive hard to understand Japan are saddened by this shrines ongoing role.

In the past I have scanned and publicly provided academic essays (also written by Japanese scholars) who denounce the shrine and how it causes people to misinterpret Shintoism.

From:

reteva.livejournal.com

I would be very interested to read these articles.

In terms of the museum displays, I did not visit there and consequently cannot attest to their present condition. I suspect, however, that it is probably as much as it ever was. Revisionist history is a folly of all nations, great and small, and I have no reason to suspect the Japanese of being any less subject to its whims than anyone else in the world.

Nevertheless, even excepting the presence of such revisionist history in the museum located there, I still would not consider the shrine as being nothing but an attempt to ennoble Japan's action in WWII. Such a black-or-white view of the shrine's role in the life of contemporary Japanese is too narrow to have realistic purchase in an academic argument. Undoubtedly, that aspect of Yasukuni's function does exist. In fact, that aspect is more than clear in the literature of the shrine in its website and (most likely) in any pamphlets of guidebooks handed out by the shrine and museum. But such a function is not the sum total of the shrine's meaning or purpose in the modern world, and I wish that more people would consider its additional roles when discussing its value at large. That's all. =]

From:

muroku.livejournal.com

Scans, I made the scans last year during the height of the controversy and hosted them on my Uni. server...due to my workload I delete files over time (as we have to buy CDs in the library etc etc)

the articles also contain translations of the letters/diaries and words of the war criminals to their families

the writer is a Japanese scholar encouraged by her brother to share this information to the world (as her work is unpopular in Japan)

she provided a statistical analyses as well of their written words citing 1-2 Class B or Class C criminals who somewhat expressed remorse (not over the war but over their role in the deaths of civilians)

Class A war criminals such as Tojo in no place in his written material expressed guilt or regret over the death of civilians...he wanted to be a hardcore martyr

and Yasukuni has made him that

Please understand why many would abhhor the thought that a kami would dwell with Tojo

the "narrov" view which you have subscribed to my interpretation can be dispelled with a survey done amongst Japanese worshippers...few have any concept of the crimes committed by the enshrined military leaders

and as you probably know Japanese families who ASKED THAT THEIR sons be removed from the shrine are NOT allowed to

their sons are property of Japan

if you delve in deeper into Yasukuni you will find efforts of these families---they want to separate their sons from war criminals but they can't

it is the blurring of the good and bad

not seeing a shrine as black and white

these are the facts I have personally come across in plain old Eng.

enjoy the rest of your time in Japan

From:

reteva.livejournal.com

I certainly did not mean to ascribe a black-or-white patina to your viewpoint - merely to some of the viewpoints I have come across in my own studies in a general way. I am still very eager to read the article you are referring to. If you can't provide a direct link any longer then any bibliographical information you have for it would help me to find it on my own.

Thanks for your well wishes! I'm sure that I will continue to love it here. And I look forward to any of your future commentary on my travels.