The Yasukuni shrine was established shortly after the Meiji Restoration as the Shokonsha, then was renamed Yasukuni in 1879. During the Allied Occupation after World War II, the US authorities ordered that the Shinto religion be separated from the state. Yasukuni became a private shrine.
A majority of the Occupation staff favored burning down the shrine because they considered it to be a symbol of militarism. General Douglas MacArthur, the supreme commander, however, asked a panel of Christian ministers for their view.
In a written reply, they said the shrine should be preserved.
"Every nation has the right and duty to pay respects to the people who died for the nation," their report said. "This must be equally true for either the victor or the vanquished." Destroying the shrine, they said, "would leave a dishonorable stain on the history of the United States military."
Richard Halloran is a writer based in Hawaii.
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