Kudanshita

Kudanshita Station is a metro station located in Chiyoda Ward of Tokyo. It serves the Tokyo Metro Hanzomon and Tozai Lines and the Toei Shinjuku Line.

Kudanshita mainly refers to the station, and the area around the station comprising the Yasukuni Jinja and Chidorigafuchi. Kudanshita is a busy station as it is the access point of several attractions of the area.

Places of Interest:

Kitanomaru Park

The entrance to Kitanomaru Park is right in front of Kudanshita Station of Tokyo Metro Tozai Line. Kitanomaru Park is one of the two areas of the Imperial Palace open to the public (the other being the East Garden), and home to the Science Museum, National Museum of Art & Craft Gallery, and the Nippon Budokan.

Kitanomaru Park is a beautiful park with lots of greenery, plants and trees. Meandering tree-lined paths and shady nooks fill the place. There is a pond with a grassy open area surrounding it, which is a popular picnicking spot for the local residents. The place becomes particularly crowded during spring when people throng for hanami parties to enjoy the cherry blossoms.

The Nippon Budokan , located inside Kitanomaru Park, is the venue for big musical events and Japanese martial arts. This imposing octagonal structure contains three halls, the largest of which holds 14,000 people. Besides the large-scale rock concerts, the national championships of the different branches of the martial arts are also held here every year. The Nippon Budokan was originally built for the judo competition in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics - hence the name, meaning "martial arts hall".

Chidorigafuchi

Chidorigafuchi is one of the moats of the Imperial Palace. Located just 5 minutes walk from Kudanshita Station, it is one of the most famous cherry-blossom viewing spots in Tokyo. Cherry trees line both sides of the moat giving it a layered covered look. Every April, the Cherry Blossom Festival attracts thousands of people, who come here from all over to watch and enjoy the beautiful snow-white blossoms in full bloom. In the evenings the trees are lit giving the place and the water in the moat a glittering look. Boats may be hired for rides on Chidorigafuchi and food stalls line the paved road running alongside the moat. 

Yasukuni Shrine

Situated 3 minutes walk from Kudanshita Station on the opposite side of the road of Kitanomaru Park, Yasukuni Shrine is dedicated to the spirits of the soldiers and others who died fighting for the Emperor of Japan. It was originally built in 1869 by order of the Meiji Emperor to commemorate the victims of the Boshin War. In 1879, it was declared one of the principal shrines associated with the Shinto faith and the primary national shrine to commemorate Japan's war dead.

Entrance to Yasukuni Shrine is through a massive gray metal Torii (gate), at 22 meters, said to be the tallest in the country. A stately avenue of cherry and ginkgo trees leads to the Hoden , the main building. During the day, many older people can be seen paying their respects to friends and families who perished in wars.

Next to the main building is a war memorial museum, the Yushukan . This museum chronicles the rise and fall of the samurai, the Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War, and World Wars I and II. On display are samurai armor, uniforms, tanks, guns, and artillery, as well as a human torpedo (a tiny submarine guided by one occupant and loaded with explosives) and a suicide attack plane.

The shrine grounds also contain a bronze statue of Omura Masujiro, the first Minister of War after the Meiji Restoration, erected in 1896; two huge lanterns honoring the Army and the Navy, built in 1935; and a doves house, which has about 600 doves. There are over a thousand cherry trees on the Yasukuni grounds, making the shrine grounds a popular venue for the Cherry Blossom Festival every April. The festival attracts over 300,000 people, and features food stalls and an annual exhibition sumo tournament.

Yasukuni Shrine is the most controversial shrine in Japan since 1979, when several class-A war criminals were enshrine here. Visits to the shrine by cabinet members are always a cause of protest both at home and abroad. Some Asian countries which suffered under Japanese imperialism consider the shrine a symbol of Japanese militarism and ultra-nationalism. There have been calls to remove the war criminals from the Yasukuni Shrine, but the shrine administrators have refused to do so.