Oskar Díaz Toscano
Japan's most controversial temple
The Yasukuni Shrine is the most controversial temple in Japan as it officially pays tribute to "all those ve fought and died for their country, so their names live forever." The reality is that recognized war criminals are among those ve are memorialized at this temple, and controversy arises whenever a Japanese politician makes an official visit. It doesn't sit well with those ve suffered at the hands of the Japanese during the Second World War, especially Korea and China.
You can often see representatives of the Japanese far right giving speeches from black vans decorated with Japanese flags.
Despite all this, it's a beautiful temple and is worth visiting. It's not dangerous at all unless you try to take pictures directly of the guys making speeches. On the premises of the temple, there's a war museum where you can see weapons and vehicles including a Mitsubishi Zero, the famous aircraft of the Kamikazes. Inside the museum there are two or three rooms whose walls are plastered with pictures of all the soldiers ve died in the war, along with their names and the date. This really really makes your hair stand on end...I recommend going, it is something you should form your own opinion about rather than just go by the exaggerations in the media. Also, in the back there is a beautiful Japanese garden.
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