Yasukuni
Subtitle: The War Dead and the Struggle for Japan's Past
By: John Breen, editor.
Contributors: Breen, John, 1956-
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 11 April 2008
Place of publication: New York, NY
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 202
ISBN-13: 9780231700429
Subjects: Yasukuni Jinja (Tokyo, Japan); Shinto and politics.
First sentence: Former Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro's annual visits to the Yasukuni shrine from 2001 to 2006 prompted much criticism from the Chinese leadership and the Chinese public, and led to a stalemate in high-level relations between the two countries even as China emerged as Japan's largest trading partner.
Description: This book is the first authoritative volume in English on Yasukuni, the controversial Shinto shrine in the heart of Tokyo, dedicated to the Japanese war dead. Twelve convicted and two suspected Class A criminals are enshrined at Yasukuni, while the shrine’s museum narrates and account of Japan’s actions in the Second World War that is best described as revisionist. Visits to the shrine by cabinet members often set off protests at home and abroad, especially in China, Korea and Taiwan, and Yasukuni remains a source of considerable mistrust between the Chinese and Japanese governments.

This volume sets out neither to commend Yasukuni nor to condemn it; it seeks, rather, to present authoritative yet divergent views. It accommodates chapters by Japanese intellectuals; it carries multiple Chinese perspectives; and there are also contributions from Western commentators who offer their own insights on the shrine and its place in post-war Japanese diplomacy, ideology and history.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 189-196) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction: A Yasukuni Genealogy (John Breen); title: Stalemate: The Yasukuni Shrine Problem in Sino-Japanese Relations (Caroline Rose); title: A Religious Perspective on the Yasukuni Shrine Controversy (Kevin Doak); title: China, Japan and the Spell of Yasukuni (Wang Zhixin); title: Plumbing the Depths: The Yasukuni Controversy in China (Seki Hei); title: Legacies of the Empire: The Yasukuni Shrine Controversy (Takahashi Tetsuya); title: And Why Shouldn't the Prime Minister Worship at Yasukuni? A Personal View (Nitta Hitoshi); title: Yasukuni and the Loss of Historical Memory (John Breen); title: Pledge Fulfilled: Prime Minister Koizumi, Yasukuni and the Japanese Media (Phillip Seaton)