Tochigiken-Gokoku-jinja, Shinto shrine in Utsunomiya, Japan
Tochigiken-Gokoku-jinja is a Shinto shrine in Utsunomiya whose grounds hold a main hall (honden) with photographs of the Emperor and Empress on the upper left and right of its front, a hall for memorial ceremonies (Gokoku Kaikan), and a model of an Imperial Japanese Navy Zero fighter donated by composer Toru Funamura in front of the honden. A large torii stands at the entrance, and a transplanted giant camphor tree (shii) rises to the left of the torii.
The shrine was established in 1872 to honor soldiers and police officers who died in wars, starting with the Boshin War. Over time its purpose expanded to include firefighters and members of the self-defense forces, and it was relocated to its current location in 1940.
The shrine's name, Gokoku, designates it as a memorial to the war dead; it honours 55,361 people from the former Utsunomiya domain and Tochigi Prefecture, including police, firefighters and Self-Defense personnel. Annual rites include the New Year's festival on 1 January, the例祭 on 28 April and a memorial service for the war dead on 15 August. Since 1972 a memorial ceremony for former Manchurian pioneer volunteers was held each April at the monument in the grounds.
The shrine stands along Prefectural Route 70, and the great camphor-like shii tree transplanted in March 2010 now grows to the left of the large torii at the grounds' entrance. Visitors enter through that torii and walk straight to the main hall, where photographs of the 1996 imperial visit hang above and to either side of the front. The Shinboku tree was moved rather than felled when the road was widened.
In front of the main hall stands a model of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Zero fighter, donated by composer Toru Funamura. The shrine also keeps a large camphor tree moved here in 2010 from the south grounds to save it from road widening.
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