In Koa Kannon, how is the Enshrinement of war criminals of the History elucidated?
On 23 December 1948, six men including Hideki Tojo were executed by the International Military Tribunal of the Far East as “Class A” war criminals alongside Iwane Matsui, and were cremated at Kuboyama Crematorium in Yokohama. The American army disposed of most of the ashes, but one urn was secretly collected up by a group including Miyoshi Tobita, the manager of Kuboyama Crematorium, and Shohei Sanmonji, defense counsel to Kuniaki Koiso, and on 3 May 1949 this urn was carried to the Koa Kannon temple due to its links with Matsui. Right away the head priest Master Ninrei Itami intuitively understood that these were the ashes of the seven war criminals and hid them until he thought the time was right. Finally on 19 April 1959 the stone monument of the seven warriors was erected, with the inscription written personally by former prime minister Shigeru Yoshida, and the ashes were buried underneath it. However, in 1960 one incense container of these ashes was taken to be buried separately at the “Tomb of the Seven Warriors Who Died for their Country” located on Mount Sangane at Nishio, then part of Hazu District, in Aichi Prefecture.
In addition to the stone monument of the seven warriors and the Bodhi monument put up in 1944, at the same site there is now also the “Memorial Stone of the 1,068 Executed Martyrs of the Great Pacific War”, which enshrines Class B and C war criminals who were executed or died in prison and has been likened to a “little Yasukuni Shrine”.
Yasukuni Shrine Iwane Matsui Hazu District Nishio Pacific War Shigeru Yoshida Kuniaki Koiso International Military Tribunal of the Far East Aichi Prefecture Hideki Tojo Kannon