Yasukuni Jinja on the 60th anniversary of Japan's surrender
"The Yasukuni shrine (Yasukuni Jinja, 靖国神社 "peaceful nation shrine"), located in the Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, is probably one of the well-known shrine in Japan. Not for its architecture or its design, but for the controversies in which it is involved.
Yasukuni Jinja has a long history. It was built more than 120 years ago in the 1869 by order of the Meiji Emperor to commemorate the victims of Boshin War. It was one of the principal shrines associated with State Shinto. Originally named Tokkyo Shokonsha (東京招魂社), the shrine was renamed Yasukuni Jinja in 1879. The shrine has performed Shinto rites to house the kami (spirits) of all Japanese and former colonial soldiers (Korean and Taiwanese) killed in conflict since then [wikipedia].
After Japan's defeat in World War II in September 1945, the US-led Occupation Authorities ordered Yasukuni to either become a secular government institution, or a religious institution that is independent from the Japanese Government. Yasukuni chose the latter. Since that time, Yasukuni has been completely privately funded.
Class-A war criminals from World War II were added to the list of the enshrined at the shrine in 1978, causing chronical polemics and ambiguities. Yasukuni is probably the temple of Hiro Hito nostalgics but the reasons for a visit may differ: nationalists, politics and old people in wheelchair does not visit necessarily Yasakuni Jinja for the same reasons...
It's why Yasukuni Jinja offers an amazing atmosphere, especially during commemorations. Group of schoolgirls, sightseeing tours, nostalgics of the imperial Japan, military-dressed nationalists, parades, policemen and monks, wounded people in wheel chair and middle-aged japanese coming to honour one of their family member victim of world war II mix with themselves.
More photos? 
