- Japanese: 招魂社 (shoukonsha)
Shôkonsha are sanctuaries established to enshrine the war dead, particularly those who died in the service of the Imperial nation. The two most prominent such shrines in Japan are Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, and Ryôzen Gokoku Shrine in Kyoto, but around 105 officially-recognized shôkonsha were established in 1865-1870 alone, and they proliferated all the more so after the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), and again after the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). Over 150 remain active or at least extant today.
References
- Takashi Fujitani, Splendid Monarchy, University of California Press (1996), 90, 210.