Rethinking Yasukuni

Yasukuni is a Shintoist shrine where imperial Japan'swar dead areenshrined. It has become an increasingly notoriouslocation over thelast five decades because it houses, among its 2.5million deities,the spirits of a dozen Class-A war criminals. Despitethis fact,regardless of constitutional bans, and in the face ofa reproachfulnational and international audience, a number ofJapanese primeministers have insisted on presenting offeringsthere. "RethinkingYasukuni - From Secular Politics to ReligiousSacrifice" is the firstEnglish-written monograph that examines the shrine as apredominantly religious location. This publication isalso based onone of the few anthropological fieldworks that hasbeen carried outat Yasukuni, and thus offers novel ethnographicinsights. Moreover,because it attempts to approach the shrine from anevolutionary andcognitive point of view, "Rethinking Yasukuni"touches on key issuesin the current history of religions.

Autorentext

Janemil Kolstø (b. 1981) has a bachelor's and a master's degree in the history of religions (University of Bergen). In addition to this research on Yasukuni, he has done fieldwork among tourists at Norwegian churches, Theosophists, and also Bahaists. For more information, visit: www.janemilkolsto.com

Klappentext
Yasukuni is a Shintoist shrine where imperial Japan's war dead are enshrined. It has become an increasingly notorious location over the last five decades because it houses, among its 2.5 million deities, the spirits of a dozen Class-A war criminals. Despite this fact, regardless of constitutional bans, and in the face of a reproachful national and international audience, a number of Japanese prime ministers have insisted on presenting offerings there. "Rethinking Yasukuni - From Secular Politics to Religious Sacrifice" is the first English-written monograph that examines the shrine as a predominantly religious location. This publication is also based on one of the few anthropological fieldworks that has been carried out at Yasukuni, and thus offers novel ethnographic insights. Moreover, because it attempts to approach the shrine from an evolutionary and cognitive point of view, "Rethinking Yasukuni" touches on key issues in the current history of religions.