A statue of Masujiro Omura stands on a high pedestal in the middle of the approach to Yasukuni Shrine

Statue of Masujiro Omura at Yasukuni Shrine

When you visit a shrine, you walk along the approach to the hall of worship or the main hall, but you are not supposed to walk in the middle of the approach, which is called the median. This is because the path is considered to be the path of the gods.

I heard of a similar prohibition when I visited the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. Originally, the Forbidden City was the seat of the emperor, and the main gate, the Meridian Gate, had five gates, but the middle gate in the center was reserved for the emperor and no one else was allowed to pass through.

On the other hand, I was in Tokyo and visited Yasukuni Jinja Shrine. As I walked from Kudanshita station to the shrine, I could see a large bronze statue standing in the middle of the approach. The bronze statue standing in the middle of the path is looking at the distance on a high pedestal with great enthusiasm. It is a statue of Omura Masujiro, the founder of the Japanese Army.

I wondered if it was right to stand so tall in the center of the city, which is the pathway of God, but I was convinced when I saw the portrait of Omura Masujiro in the photographs of famous people of the modern era in the National Diet Library. The top of his head is larger than that of a human being, and the shape of his head is suitable to be called a deformed person. He may not have been thought of as a mere human being.

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