Yasukuni Jinja shrine at night
Just north of Budoukan is located Yasukuni Jinja shrine (靖国神社). It is a Shintou shrine originally founded by Emperor Meiji in 1869 as Tokyo Shoukonsha (東京招魂社) to commemorate the war dead during and after Meiji Restoration. It was renamed to Yasukuni Jinja (靖国神社) in 1879. It is dedicated to the spirits of the war dead (英霊) that currently numbers 2,466,584.
Plenty of cherry trees are planted from Chidoriga-fuchi to Yasukuni Jinja. Cherry blooms beautiful but only for a short period and falls. There used to be many young people obsessed with an idea of dying gracefully for the country like cherry blossoms, which was taken up by such novelists as Mishima Yukio (三島由紀夫 1925 - 1970) and Ooe Kenzaburou (大江健三郎 1935 - 2023) as a theme of their novels.
Yasukuni Jinja is a beautiful place but a bit emotionally toxic, and so is blooming cherry.
Yasukuni Jinja shrine at night
Just north of Budoukan is located Yasukuni Jinja shrine (靖国神社). It is a Shintou shrine originally founded by Emperor Meiji in 1869 as Tokyo Shoukonsha (東京招魂社) to commemorate the war dead during and after Meiji Restoration. It was renamed to Yasukuni Jinja (靖国神社) in 1879. It is dedicated to the spirits of the war dead (英霊) that currently numbers 2,466,584.
Plenty of cherry trees are planted from Chidoriga-fuchi to Yasukuni Jinja. Cherry blooms beautiful but only for a short period and falls. There used to be many young people obsessed with an idea of dying gracefully for the country like cherry blossoms, which was taken up by such novelists as Mishima Yukio (三島由紀夫 1925 - 1970) and Ooe Kenzaburou (大江健三郎 1935 - 2023) as a theme of their novels.
Yasukuni Jinja is a beautiful place but a bit emotionally toxic, and so is blooming cherry.