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[[Image:Yasukuni.jpg|right|thumb|320px|The main worship hall (''haiden'') and ''chûmon [[torii]]''.]]
[[Image:Yasukuni.jpg|right|thumb|320px|The main worship hall (''haiden'') and ''chûmon [[torii]]''.]]
[[File:Yasukuni-torii.jpg|right|thumb|320px|A view from the ''Daini torii'' ("Second Torii"), the earliest and largest bronze ''torii'' in the world, looking out, away from the shrine. The First Torii, largest in the world when it was erected in 1974, is visible in the distance. A bronze statue of [[Omura Masujiro|Ômura Masujirô]] stands between the two.]]
*''Established: [[1869]]''
*''Established: [[1869]]''
*''Japanese'': 靖国神社 ''(yasukuni jinja)''
*''Japanese'': 靖国神社 ''(yasukuni jinja)''
==Gates and Structures==
==Gates and Structures==
The ''dai-ichi torii'', the first [[torii]] one comes across when approaching the shrine, is in steel. The ''daini torii'', closer in towards the center of the shrine, was erected in [[1887]], replacing the previous wooden gate. It is the largest, and earliest,<ref>Takashi Fujitani, ''Splendid Monarchy'', UC Press (1998), 122.</ref> bronze torii in the country.
The ''dai-ichi torii'', the first ''[[torii]]'' one comes across when approaching the shrine, is 25 meters tall, the largest in the country when it was erected in 1974. The ''daini torii'', closer in towards the center of the shrine, was erected in [[1887]], replacing the previous wooden gate. It is the largest, and earliest,<ref>Takashi Fujitani, ''Splendid Monarchy'', UC Press (1998), 122.</ref> bronze torii in the country.
The wooden ''chûmon'' leading directly into the central plaza was built in 1934, and restored 60 years later. Though the shrine no longer has any official connection to the government or to the Imperial Household, the heavy cypress doors on this gate bear metal chrysanthemum crests 1.5 meters in diameter. One final torii stands between the ''chûmon'' and the main worship hall (''haiden'').
The wooden ''chûmon'', or Third Gate, leading directly into the central plaza was built in 1934, and restored 60 years later. Though the shrine no longer has any official connection to the government or to the Imperial Household, the heavy cypress doors on this gate bear metal chrysanthemum crests 1.5 meters in diameter. One final ''torii'' stands between the ''chûmon'' and the main worship hall (''haiden'').
The grounds also include a war museum called the Yûshûkan (遊就館), housed in a building by [[Giovanni Vincenzo Cappelletti]], completed and opened in [[1882]].<ref>Fujitani, 37, 122.</ref> Though opened even before the Sino-Japanese War, and presumably focusing originally on the Boshin War and ''[[shizoku]]'' rebellions of the 1870s, the museum today focuses chiefly on World War II, and contains a great many artifacts from Japan's modern wars. The museum is quite controversial for the strong right-wing / nationalistic / militarist bias in the way the museum represents the war, and Japan's involvement in it.
The grounds also include a war museum called the Yûshûkan (遊就館), housed in a building by [[Giovanni Vincenzo Cappelletti]], completed and opened in [[1882]].<ref>Fujitani, 37, 122.</ref> Though opened even before the Sino-Japanese War, and presumably focusing originally on the Boshin War and ''[[shizoku]]'' rebellions of the 1870s, the museum today focuses chiefly on World War II, and contains a great many artifacts from Japan's modern wars. The museum is quite controversial for the strong right-wing / nationalistic / militarist bias in the way the museum represents the war, and Japan's involvement in it.