Quote:
Originally Posted by blimp
at least i interpret this as it is only for those who died in wars for japan.
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Dedication in the 19th century has little to do with how it is considered now. As for those "enshrined" in the shrine, you have to be registered there for that to happen... And as I would assume 99.9% of those registered there are Japanese - being as the shrine itself is in Japan - it is going to be overwhelmingly Japanese.
That doesn`t change the popular view that it is dedicated to those who died in wars the world over. And even if we do limit it to only those in Japan, the only criteria for being there is having died in a war... Well, no, criteria is a bit harsh. I believe that anyone Japanese who dies in a war is automatically registered by name there. Out of however many people whose names are there, certainly a few are going to be criminals...
But the majority are regular people. My husband has several relatives whose names are there - it`s cruel to rule the shrine out because there are a few black specks. I highly doubt anyone goes there thinking of war criminals while they pray. They pray for all those who have died in wars. People throw fits about officials going to pray there, but I`m personally more shocked if they don`t... That is denying the sacrifices everyone ELSE enshrined there made.