Toyokuni Shrine is located right next to the Kyoto National Museum in Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto City, Japan.

This Toyokuni Shrine is actually scattered all over Japan, but the Toyokuni Shrine in Kyoto is the ``total headquarters'' of Toyokuni Shrine nationwide.

Toyokuni Shrine is a place to commemorate Hideyoshi Toyotomi, a Japanese warlord who was notorious to us due to the invasion of Joseon in 1592.

In front of Kyoto Toyokuni Shrine, there is a large road running north and south, and when you cross this road, you will see a tomb that rises above the ground with an old residential area at the end of a small park.

The sign says Lee Chong (耳塚), or'ear grave'.

The name of the park is also written on the map as'Ichong Park'.




We are familiar with the story that the Japanese army, who invaded Joseon during the Imjin War, cut off the ears and nose of Koreans and sent them to their home country.

It is a horrifying story that the Japanese army chose ears or noses for convenient transportation instead of sending the'necks' of the slaughtered Joseon soldiers and civilians to show off their so-called'major' in Joseon at the time.

Toyotomi wrote a'receipt' according to the number of ears and noses reported, used it for non-working activities by invading longmen, and even toured all over Japan to display it.

There are 5 places in Japan including Kyoto-2 in Okayama, 1 in Fukuoka, 1 in Tsushima (Tsushima), and 1 in Kyoto-there are ear tombs next to Toyokuni Shrine in Kyoto. It is the largest.

According to various records, it is said that the ears and noses of about 126,000 Koreans are buried here.



In the middle of Kyoto, one of the most visited places for school excursions by Japanese, even though such a large ear tomb remains intact, Japan does not teach the origin and meaning of the ear tombs at all.

It can be said that a small sign on the site and a brief explanation on the website of the Kyoto City Hall, which is the subject of management, are almost all.

In front of the Kyoto ear tombs, the Mindan Kyoto branch of the Republic of Korea in Japan has held a memorial event for more than 10 years and has held an event to consolation of a ghost, but only a few meaningful Japanese have participated in this event.




In this situation, it is likely to change from this year.

In December of last year, the “Gathering to Spread Peace in Kyoto to the World”, or “Kyoto Peace Group,” was formed because this year's memorial service was led by this group.



Here's how it works.

Ogura, 96, a Japanese acquaintance of Yoon Do-shim (63), who has been actively participating in the ear tomb memorial system held in Mindan, attended the event four years ago through Yoon, and this event was not Korean. It is said that the Japanese have come to think that it should be held.

Mr. Ogura conveyed these thoughts to Mr. Naoto Amaki, 73, a former bureaucrat who was from Kyoto and was politically active.

Mr. Amaki, who served as the Japanese ambassador to Lebanon from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was dismissed after sending a message to the Foreign Minister in opposition to the Japanese government's policy to stand by the US attack on Iraq in 2003. As the representative of'Jo', he was running for the House of Councilors election, and was engaged in progressive political activities in the Kyoto area.

Mr. Amaki sympathized with Mr. Ogura's appeal to open a memorial service for the Korean victims of the Japanese invasion buried in the'ear grave', and decided to lead the memorial system for the first time this year.

This is the first memorial service held by the Japanese by the Japanese people.



Former Ambassador Amaki met with a reporter in Tokyo on the 12th to explain in detail the plan and progress of the memorial service.




Mr. Amaki himself was born in Kyoto, grew up in Kyoto, and went to university, but he said he first learned about the ear tombs that were nearby.

Mr. Amaki, who thought that study was not enough to hold the memorial service, was written by Emeritus Professor Kim Moon-gil of the Pusan ​​University of Foreign Studies, who has been devoted to the study of the ear tombs, and a special contributor from the attendees of the ``Kyoto Peace Gathering,'' who gathered their will for the memorial system. I tied them up and reached the publication of one book last month.

It is a book titled'Come, Kirin's 麒麟.'

In the title of the book, an imaginary animal that symbolizes peace,'giraffe', is featured, implying the need to bring about reconciliation between Korea and Japan.




Former Ambassador Amaki said, "Regardless of the current relationship between Korea and Japan, we need to apologize and reflect on the past history. We must have a clear apology for the atrocities of Japan (regardless of the times). We need to share our perceptions based on historical facts.”



The memorial festival hosted by the Kyoto Peace Meeting is scheduled to be held locally on the 23rd.

This organization explains the purpose of the memorial system:



[By the Japanese directly up jinhon, shipbuilding chulbyeong time, the soul of the victim Korean Toyotomi Hideyoshi beyond eunwon past unfortunate history between Japan and the Korean Peninsula and to pray for improving relations over the future of Japan and the Korean Peninsula]



'Kyoto Peace The'meeting' revealed that it requested the participation of officials from Kyoto City, South Korea (Mindan), and North Korea (Cho Chongryon) to this memorial service.

They said that neither party has yet expressed their intention to attend, and analyzed that the current cold-frozen relationship between Korea and Japan and North Korea-Japan relationship will also have an impact.

Mr. Amaki, who serves as the secretary of the meeting, has not forgotten that he hopes that if possible, the city of Kyoto, Mindan, and Chongryon who have received the invitation will all participate in the memorial service and help save the purpose.