page_title: Yasukuni Shrine
section_title: Foundation for the dead in the Boshin War and Meiji Restoration
hierarchical_section_title: Yasukuni Shrine / History / Foundation for the dead in the Boshin War and Meiji Restoration
caption_attribution_description: English: Tokyo Shokonsha(present-day "Yasukuni Shrine")日本語: 東京招魂社（現在の靖国神社）
context_page_description: Yasukuni 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 through 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 lesser part of the Shōwa period.
  The shrine lists the names, origins, birthdates, and places of death of 2,466,532 men, women and children, including various pet animals. Among those are 1,068 convicted war criminals, 14 of whom are A-Class. This has led to many controversies surrounding the shrine. Another memorial at the Honden building commemorates anyone who died on behalf of Japan, but includes Koreans and Taiwanese who served Japan at the time. In addition, the Chinreisha building is a shrine built to inter the souls of all the people who died during WWII, regardless of their nationality. It is located directly south of the Yasukuni Honden.
context_section_description: The site for the Yasukuni Shrine, originally named Tōkyō Shōkonsha (東京招魂社, "shrine to summon the souls"), was chosen by order of the Meiji Emperor. The shrine was established in 1869, in the wake of the Boshin War, in order to honor the souls of those who died fighting for the Emperor. It initially served as the "apex" of a network of similar shrines throughout Japan that had originally been established for the souls of various feudal lords' retainers, and which continued to entomb local individuals who died in the Emperor's service. Following the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion, the Emperor had 6,959 souls of war dead entombed at Tōkyō Shōkonsha.
  In 1879, the shrine was renamed Yasukuni Jinja. The name Yasukuni, quoted from the phrase 「吾以靖國也」 in the classical-era Chinese text Zuo Zhuan (Scroll 6, 23rd Year of Duke Xi), literally means "Pacifying the Nation" and was chosen by the Meiji Emperor. The name is formally written as 靖國神社, using obsolete (pre-war) kyūjitai character forms.
  Among the entombed are Yoshida Shōin, Sakamoto Ryōma, Takasugi Shinsaku, Nakaoka Shintarō, Takechi Hanpeita, Sanai Hashimoto, and Ōmura Masujirō, who contributed to the Tokugawa shogunate's overthrow and the Meiji Restoration during the Bakumatsu period in Japan. In contrast, the shrine does not entomb the war dead of shogunate retainers such as the soldiers of the former Shogunate forces, the Ouetsu Reppan Domei, the Shinsengumi, and the Shogitai.
  Although Saigō Takamori, Eto Shinpei, and Maebara Issei made a contribution to the Meiji Restoration, they were not entombed because they revolted against the Meiji government after that.
caption: Tōkyō Shōkonsha in 1873
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