The Shinto Yasukuni Shrine was created during the Meiji Restoration to commemorate the individuals who had died in service of the Empire of Japan. In the shrine are numerous photographs and war paraphernalia and the names, origin, birthdate and place of death of 2,466,532 men, women and children.
Recently, significant controversy has arisen regarding visits to the shrine by right wing members of the Japanese government who find little fault with Imperial Japan’s aggression earlier in the century and express little regret for the suffering inflicted on millions of people in Asia.