The Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward was established early in the reign of the Meiji emperor, the beginning of modern Japan, as a place of worship for the war dead. Some two million people are enshrined there – including more than a thousand convicted and oftentimes executed war criminals. Veterans worship there by parading on the grounds of the shrine in uniforms, neo-fascists agitate for a return to ‘ancient’ values, LDP politicos nowadays carry favour with the ultra-right wing establishment by making appearances, while democratically-minded activists get beaten to a pulp. For most of Yasukuni, Li Ying patiently observes the often too-bizarre-to-believe happenings on the shrine’s grounds. Only in the end, in a furious montage of still and moving images, does he remind the viewer of what all this is actually about. Among the most controversial documentaries of the decade.
