The autumn Reitaisai (例大祭) at Yasukuni Jinja (靖國神社) was held from October 17th to 19th, and, as usual, reported on the front page of Jinja Shinpō. The Reitaisai is (are?) the most important annual matsuri at the jinja, and Yasukuni has two, one in spring and one in autumn. These days, and the Japanese anniversary of the end of the war (not called “DA Day”, oddly enough) are the occasions on which people pay attention to who visits, and what is said. The article reports all the events that happened, as well as significant visitors.
After the main matsuri, which was on the 18th, the chief priest, Revd Ōtsuka, gave a short speech, which is summarised in the article. He gave an overview of the history of the jinja, in which he claimed that Yasukuni Jinja was a pioneer in its form of memorialisation. At Yasukuni Jinja, the name of each of the war dead is recorded, and each of them is remembered as an individual. “In an age when war was a natural instrument of policy, Yasukuni Jinja led the world in this way of memorialisation, overflowing with human feeling,” he said.
He expressed regret that Yasukuni Jinja is widely misunderstood, and went on to insist that the true nature of Yasukuni Jinja is a “Peace Jinja”, dedicated to remembering the war dead and preserving the peace of Japan. It is a place to pray that Japan will continue to be at peace, and that the rest of the world will also know peace.
The standard western view of Yasukuni Jinja is as a war jinja. This is in direct contradiction to Revd Ōtsuka’s statement about the purpose of the jinja — and he is the chief priest.
It is not entirely clear who gets to decide the meaning of symbols, but the people in charge of them must have a large say in the matter. This is where I have to declare an interest. I have worked with Revd Ōtsuka on material for Yasukuni Jinja, and I am convinced that he is entirely sincere in his belief that it is a peace jinja, and in his commitment to getting the world to accept that. I strongly suspect (although I do not know) that this was an important part of his reason for banning military cosplay (as discussed in the Guardian article linked earlier).
On the other hand, I also suspect that some of the right-wingers who used to show up in military cosplay were there to glorify war, and wanted Japan to become an active military power again. It is not only westerners who think of Yasukuni Jinja as a war jinja.
As I have mentioned before, Revd Ōtsuka is a retired admiral, which puts him in a morally strong position to discourage the fringe minority in Japan who do want to use Yasukuni Jinja to glorify war. I think he has a good chance of shifting the perception of the jinja during his tenure, and I hope that he succeeds. The jinja is in central Tokyo, and I would prefer it to symbolise not war, but peace.