ABSTRACT
World capitals such as London, Berlin, Washington and Moscow have reserved central spaces for architectural monuments and war memorials. Tokyo, by contrast, has no obelisks, sculptural ensembles, grand cathedrals with sky-high spires or triumphal arches equivalent to those monuments that dominate the cityscapes of Western capitals. Emptiness characterizes the square in front of the imperial palace in Tokyo. This space, Takeshi Hara suggests, is the most political and authoritative in Japan.1 How then have modern wars, and in particular the Second World War, been commemorated in Japan’s political capital? This essay examines the nearest equivalent to a national war memorial in Tokyo – the Yasukuni Shrine – from its establishment in 1869 to its status and use in the early twenty-first century.2
