The is a Shinto Shrine located in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. It honors the heroes of Japan, especially from the period of the

Bakumatsu was the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the modern empire of the Meiji government ...

period and the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

,''Kyoto Cultural Guide'' by John H. Martin, Phyllis G. Martin p.65
/ref> most famously

Sakamoto Ryōma was a Japanese ''samurai'', a '' shishi'' and influential figure of the ''Bakumatsu'' and establishment of the Empire of Japan in the late Edo period. He was a low-ranking ''samurai'' from the Tosa Domain on Shikoku and became an active oppon ...

and his associate

Nakaoka Shintarō was a samurai in Bakumatsu period Japan, and a close associate of Sakamoto Ryōma in the movement to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate.National Diet Library (NDL), Portraits of Modern Japanese Historical Figures Nakaoka, Shintaro/ref> Biography ...

, who are buried side by side in the shrine. Within the shrine is a monument in memory of the

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

jurist

Radhabinod Pal Radhabinod Pal (27 January 1886 – 10 January 1967) was an Indian jurist who was a member of the United Nations' International Law Commission from 1952 to 1966. He was one of three Asian judges appointed to the International Military Tribunal ...

. The

Ryozen Museum of History The is a history museum located in Kyoto, Japan. It specializes in the history of the Bakumatsu period and the Meiji Restoration. The Museum is next to the Kyoto Ryozen Gokoku Shrine The is a Shinto Shrine located in Kyoto, Japan. It ho ...

is next to this shrine.

History

In 1862, a funeral was held by volunteers at the Shinto burial site Reimeisha in the red seal land (朱印地) of the Shohoji (正法寺) temple of the :de:Ji-shu Ryozan school. There were 3 festival gods

Kukurihime , also , is a Japanese Shinto goddess''Shinto Encyclopedia Volume One'' piece 264 (original 455 pages) Kukurihimenomomikoto　Kikurihime/ref>''Encyclopedia of the World Goddess'' pages 42-43 "Kukurihime Kikurihime" venerated as (also known as ...

, Hayatama-no-Okami, and Susano Otomo.Since it was a red seal land (朱印地), it could not be purchased, and it was a "permanent contractor". On June 29, 1868, in order to worship the spirits of the Shishi (tenchu-gumi in order to enshrine a holy spirit etc) who fell from

Emperor Meiji , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figur ...

on the verge of the

, a sacred area of a sacred mountain in Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, a scholarship was issued to build the structure. The shrine was founded at the summit of Kyoto's

Kuge The was a Japanese aristocratic class that dominated the Japanese Imperial Court in Kyoto. The ''kuge'' were important from the establishment of Kyoto as the capital during the Heian period in the late 8th century until the rise of the Kamakur ...

(aristocratic class) and the feudal lords of Yamaguchi,

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

Fukui is a Japanese name meaning "fortunate" or sometimes "one who is from the Fukui prefecture". It may refer to: Places * Fukui Domain, a part of the Japanese han system during the Edo period * Fukui Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan located in ...

, Tottori, and

Kumamoto is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a population of 1,461,000, ...

. It has an older history than

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 Empire of Japan, Japan, from the Boshin War of 1868–1869, to the two Sino-Japanese Wars, First Sino-Japane ...

. The original name of the company was called Ryozen Kansai Shokyoshasha, and the company name was especially "Kansaisha" which was repaired at national expense. In 1936 (Showa 11), there was a movement to carefully enshrine the national martyrs from Kyoto Prefecture who perished after the China Incident (支那事変) in the (

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

). The precincts were expanded and a new shrine was built. On April 1, 1939 (Showa 14), the name of the company was changed to the current name of Kyoto Ryozen Gokoku Shrine by the Declaration of the Ministry of Home Affairs (内務大臣). After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, it was placed under the umbrella of a

religious corporation A religious corporation is a type of religious non-profit organization, which has been incorporated under the law. Often these types of corporations are recognized under the law on a subnational level, for instance by a state or province governme ...

and

Association of Shinto Shrines The is a religious administrative organisation that oversees about 80,000 Shinto shrines in Japan. These shrines take the Ise Grand Shrine as the foundation of their belief. It is the largest Shrine Shinto organization in existence. Description ...

, and left the state. During the GHQ occupation, it was renamed to Kyoto Shrine, but after Japanese independence it was restored to its original name. In 1970 (Showa 45), the

was opened in the precincts to display materials related to the

. In 2002, the comprehensive relationship with the Association of Shinto Shrines was dissolved. Ryoma Sakamoto, who was assassinated in

, is also included in the deity, and a statue was built in the precincts. On November 15, in memory of Ryoma's virtues and comforting spirits The Ryoma Festival was held. In addition to Ryoma,

Kido Takayoshi , also known as , was a Japanese statesman, samurai and '' shishi'' who is considered one of the three great nobles who led the Meiji Restoration. Early life Born Wada Kogorō in Hagi, Chōshū Domain (present-day Yamaguchi Prefecture) as ...

, Shintaro Nakaoka, Rai Mikisaburo, Umeda Unpin, Torataro Yoshimura, Kuniomi Hirano,

Kusaka Genzui , (born Kusaka Hidezaburō; May 1840 – 20 August 1864) was a samurai of the Japanese domain of Chōshū who was active during the Bakumatsu period and a key proponent of the ''sonnō jōi'' movement. Early life He was born Kusaka Hide ...

Takasugi Shinsaku was a samurai from the Chōshū Domain of Japan who contributed significantly to the Meiji Restoration. He used several aliases to hide his activities from the Tokugawa shogunate. Early life Takasugi Shinsaku was born in the castle town Hag ...

, Ikutaro Tokoro, Miyabe Teizo, Shunzaburo Taoka (田岡俊三郎) and others, 1,356 pillars of the late

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

. A total of about 73,000 pillars are worshiped as religious gods, including those who died during the

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the po ...

, the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

, and the

. Also, in April 2012, a statue of a

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...

pilot was erected.

Festivals

*Saitan Festival (new years festival) - January 1,～ three days *Kigensetsu Festival (

Emperor Jimmu was the legendary first emperor of Japan according to the '' Nihon Shoki'' and '' Kojiki''. His ascension is traditionally dated as 660 BC.Kelly, Charles F"Kofun Culture"The Emperor's Birthday) - December 23

Showa Forest

In 1997 ( Heisei 9), "Showa no Mori" was established to commemorate the Great East Asian War (

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

). To commemorate the 50th anniversary of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

's independence, there is a monument dedicated to India's representative judge,

, whose dissenting opinion at the

International Military Tribunal for the Far East The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), also known as the Tokyo Trial or the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, was a military trial convened on April 29, 1946 to try leaders of the Empire of Japan for crimes against peace, conven ...

was that the accused were not guilty of war crimes.

Transportation

*Take the Kyoto City Bus 80, 202, 206, 207 "Higashiyama Yasui" bus stop and walk 10 minutes. *15 minutes walk from Gion-Shijō Station on the

Keihan Main Line The is a railway line in Japan operated by Keihan Electric Railway. The line runs between Sanjō Station in Kyoto and Yodoyabashi Station in Osaka. There are through services to the Keihan Ōtō Line and the Keihan Nakanoshima Line. Trains from ...

Notes

External links