Hiroshima Gokoku Shrine

Hiroshima Gokoku Shrine stands on the grounds of Hiroshima Castle in Motomachi, Naka Ward, in what is now the Hiroshima Central Park area. It enshrines about 92,000 souls of those who died in war, beginning with the Boshin War. About 10,000 of them are mobilized students, women's volunteer corps members and others who were killed by the atomic bomb while doing labor service.

The shrine was founded in 1868 to honor Takama Shozo and 77 others who fell in the Boshin War. It became a government-sponsored shrine in 1875, was renamed in 1901, and in 1934 moved to the western edge of the Nishi Renpojo parade ground because the buildings had aged. On 6 August 1945 the atomic bomb destroyed all its buildings, and rites continued at a small shrine on the site. After a move made necessary by the city's reconstruction, new buildings were built on the Hiroshima Castle site in 1956. Work on the main and worship halls, ceremonial hall, stone torii and stone paving was completed in 1993, and the 130th anniversary project in 2009 added a memorial hall, kagura hall, shrine office and assembly hall.

Inside, a stone-paved approach leads to a broad worship hall. Next to the shrine stands the site of the Chugoku Military District Headquarters (a semi-underground air defense operations room), said to be where the first report of the atomic bombing was sent out, and the site of the Imperial Headquarters from the Sino-Japanese War also remains within Hiroshima Castle. Many visitors come to follow the history of war and reconstruction.

Events include a monthly service on the 5th, the spring festival (second Sunday of April), the atomic bomb memorial service (6 August) and an autumn festival. More than 500,000 people visit during the first seven days of the New Year, the most in the Chugoku region, and the Hiroshima Toyo Carp often pray here for victory each January.

Allow 30 to 60 minutes. Hiroshima Castle (about 180 m), the Hiroshima Museum of Art (about 280 m) and Orizuru Tower (about 710 m) are close by, so it combines easily with a castle visit.