BEKKAKUKAMPEISHA

   'Special-rank governmental shrine'. A category (see Shakaku seido) established in 1872 which eventually comprised twenty seven existing and newly-built shrines dedicated to famous loyalists and military heroes. Examples include the Uesugi jinja, built in 1871 and made a bekkaku in 1902, dedicated to Terutora, Uesugi, the Hokoku jinja (1873) enshrining Toyotomi, Hideyoshi, the Nikko toshogu (classified as a bekkaku shrine in 1873) which enshrines Tokugawa, Hideyoshi and the Minatogawa-jinja (1872) in Kobe enshrining, at the spot where he died in battle in 1336, Kusunoki, Masashige, the faithful champion of emperor Daigo. The Yasukuni jinja came in the same category but was dedicated to all fallen Meiji loyalists and the war-dead of subsequent national wars, rather than to one hero.

   See Gokoku jinja, Shokonsha.