Before reading this piece I recommend reading the page on Yoshida Shōin as a kami.

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History

The shrine was founded in 1882 at the site of Yoshida Shōin’s grave in Wakabayashi in Setagaya-ku, where he was reburied in 1863 by some of his followers, including Ito Hirobumi. At that time the location was the Edo villa of the Mori han. The main shrine building dates back to 1929. 

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Description

A short (4-5 minute) walk from the station which bears its name, Shoin-jinja is completely focused on the jinbutsukami enshrined therein. It is not visually spectacular, although pleasant enough, and its main appeal is to those people interested in Yoshida Shōin.  After Yoshida's grave, the most interesting aspect of the shrine from a historical point of view is the collection of 32 stone lanterns commemorating Yoshida's followers, among them Itō Hirobumi and Yamagata Aritomo, the two most powerful men in Japan in their heyday (Itō served as Prime Minister four times, Yamagata once). There is also a replica of the Shoka Sonjuku, the school in Hagi where Yoshida was such an influential teacher.

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