Yasukuni Shrine

Yasukuni Shrine (靖国神社 or 靖國神社, Yasukuni Jinja; lit. 'Peaceful Country Shrine') is a Shinto shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Emperor Meiji in June 1869 and commemorates those who died in service of Japan, from the Boshin War of 1868–1869, to the two Sino-Japanese Wars, 1894–1895 and 1937–1945 respectively, and the First Indochina War of 1946–1954. The shrine's purpose has been expanded over the years to include those who died in the wars involving Japan spanning from the entire Meiji and Taishō periods, and the earlier part of the Shōwa period.

The shrine lists the names, origins, birthdates and places of death of 2,466,532 people. Among those are 1,066 convicted war criminals from the Pacific War, twelve of whom were charged with Class A crimes (the planning, preparation, initiation, or waging of the war). Eleven were convicted on those charges, with the twelfth found not guilty on all such charges, though he was found guilty of Class B war crimes. The names of two more men charged with Class A war crimes are on the list but one died during trial and one before trial so they were never convicted.

Another memorial at the honden (main hall) building commemorates anyone who died on behalf of Japan and so includes Koreans and Taiwanese who served Japan at the time. The Chinreisha ("Spirit Pacifying Shrine") building is a shrine built to inter the souls of all the people who died during World War II, regardless of their nationality. It is located directly south of the Yasukuni Honden.

The enshrinement of war criminals, as well as the shrine's historical association with State Shinto, has made the shrine highly controversial within East Asia. The Emperor Shōwa, under whom Japan fought during World War II, visited the shrine 8 times between the end of the war and 1975. However, he thereafter boycotted the shrine due to his reported displeasure over the enshrinement of top convicted Japanese war criminals. His successors, Akihito and Naruhito, have never visited the shrine. The Japanese Government's involvement with the shrine remains highly controversial, with the most recent Japanese Prime Minister to visit the shrine while in office being Shinzo Abe in 2013.