Yasukuni Shrine

Yasukuni Shrine - A controversal and political place.
Everytime when some Japanese political figures, such as Prime Minister Koizumi, visit this place, China will make noise.
This shrine was actually built more than 130 years ago, in the hope that Japan would "be at peace for eternity". Over the years, this shrine evolved and also worships several war heros - even those involved in the numerous wars against China in the past.
Therefore, visiting this shrine indirectly means that you are worshipping these war heros, and thus the Sino-Japanese relations are at stake.

Even the guard dogs and the war horses are honoured...

Here are some interesting quotes i got from their museum:

Here, they use the term "Nanking Incident" instead of "Rape of Nanking"

"General Matsui Iwane distributed maps to his men with foreign settlements and the safety zones marked in red ink. Matsui told them that they were to maintain strict military discipline and that anyone commiting unlawful acts would be severly punished. The defeated chinese rushed to XinGuan and they were completely distroyed. The chinese soldiers disguised in civilian's clothing were severly prosecuted....."

Similarly, "Sino-Japanese War" is called "China Incident" because "there was no formal declaration of war"

"...The Japanese government abandoned its efforts to prevent incidents from escalating...."

Last but not least:

"The desire of independence has been kindered by the japanese after the jap govt surrounded Nanking in Dec 1937."

haha, just read between the lines..

u will realise that its somewhat different from what we read from our History textbooks