Nagasaki Gokoku Shrine

Nagasaki Gokoku Shrine (Japanese: 長崎護国神社) is a Gokoku Shrine located in Nagasaki, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} It is dedicated to the spirits of the approximately 60,000 people from Nagasaki Prefecture who died between the Meiji Restoration and Pacific War (World War II).

Nagasaki Gokoku Shrine
Religion
Affiliation	Shinto
Type	Gokoku shrine (formerly Shokonsha)
Year consecrated	1869
Location
Location	41-67 Joeimachi, Nagasaki, Nagasaki Prefecture
Shown within Japan
Geographic coordinates	32°46′41.61″N 129°51′19.59″E
Website
Official website
Glossary of Shinto

It is dedicated to war dead. Such shrines were made to serve to enshrine the casualties of wars, and they were all considered "branches" of Yasukuni Shrine. They were renamed from Shokonsha in 1939.^[6]

History

Nagasaki Shokonsha. This photo depicts the old shrine, and it was completely destroyed in the atomic bombing

The shrine was founded in 1869 in the Umegasaki district of Nagasaki as the Nagasaki Shokonsha, dedicated to the 43 samurais who died in the Boshin War. In 1874, the Saku Shokon Shrine was established in the Nishi-shima district of Nagasaki to honor the 536 people who died in the Taiwan Expedition. Both shrines merged and became the Nagasaki Gokoku Shrine in 1942, with the shrine buildings being completed in 1944. Then in August 1945, all of the shrine's buildings were destroyed in the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.^{[7][3]: 121} The Sako Shokon Shrine (Umegasaki Tenno-miya Shrine) was temporarily located at the site of the former Sako Shokonsha. It was rebuilt in October 1963. It is designated as a National Important Cultural Property. The shrine's annual festivals are held on April 22 and October 26.

See also

• Hiroshima Gokoku Shrine
• Controversies surrounding Yasukuni Shrine
• Hero shrine
• Wen Wu temple
• National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine
• Chinese Cultural Renaissance
• Ancestral shrine
• Gokoku Shrines
• Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
• Eternal Spring Shrine
• Greek hero cult

References

1. "長崎で「護国神社の庭フェス」 徒歩来場者には特典も". 長崎経済新聞. Retrieved 2023-01-09.
2. "長崎県護国神社 | | ながさきの平和【公式】". ながさきの平和 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-01-09.
3. Chinnock, Frank W. (2021-11-21). Nagasaki: The Forgotten Bomb. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-45899-2.
4. Sturgeon, William Daniel (2006). Japan's Yasukuni Shrine: Place of Peace Or Place of Conflict? Regional Politics of History and Memory in East Asia. Universal-Publishers. ISBN 978-1-58112-334-0.
5. Sturgeon, William Daniel (2006). Japan's Yasukuni Shrine: Place of Peace Or Place of Conflict? Regional Politics of History and Memory in East Asia. Universal-Publishers. ISBN 978-1-58112-334-0.
6. TAKAYAMA, K. PETER (1990). "Enshrinement and Persistency of Japanese Religion". Journal of Church and State. 32 (3): 527–547. doi:10.1093/jcs/32.3.527. ISSN 0021-969X. JSTOR 23917081.
7. "Hiroshima Gokoku Shrine - Hiroshima - TracesOfWar.com". www.tracesofwar.com. Retrieved 2023-11-10.