In 1873, Emperor Meiji declared Gokoku-ji the Imperial mausoleum and several of his children are buried there, as well as Emperor Meiji himself. It remains the Imperial mausoleum today.

Gokoku-ji is also famous as the central temple that oversees the practice of Japanese tea ceremony in all the country's temples.

Famous People Buried

• Sanjō Sanetomi (1837–1891), the last Daijō Daijin.
• Akiyoshi Yamada (1844–1892), a Minister of Justice and Lieutenant General in the Imperial Japanese Army, and the founder of Nihon Law School (current Nihon University) and Kokugakuin (current Kokugakuin University).
• Josiah Conder (1852–1920), a British architect and oyatoi gaikokujin.
• Ōkuma Shigenobu (1838–1922), the 8th (1898) and 17th (1914–1916) Prime Minister of Japan.
• Yamagata Aritomo (1838–1922), Field Marshal in the Imperial Japanese Army and the 3rd (1889–1891) and 9th (1898–1900) Prime Minister of Japan.
• Okura Kihachiro (1837–1928), an entrepreneur.
• Dan Takuma (1858–1932), a former Director-General of Mitsui (Mitsui Group).
• Seiji Noma (1878–1938), the founder of Kodansha.
• Takashi Masuda (1848–1938), the founder of Mitsui & Co. (Mitsui Bussan) and Chugai-Bukka-Sinpo (current Nihon Keizai Shimbun), and also known as a tea master.
• Shigeaki Ikeda (1867–1950), a politician and former governor of the Bank of Japan.
• Tempu Nakamura (1876–1968), a martial artist and preacher of yoga to Japan.
• Masutatsu Ōyama (1923–1994), a karate master and the founder of Kyokushin kaikan.
• Ikuma Dan (1924–2001), a composer. A grandson of Dan Takuma.

External links

• Gokoku-ji official website -