Heijō Shrine

Heijō Shrine (Japanese: 平壌神社, Hepburn: Heijō jinja, Korean: 평양신사) was a Shinto shrine in Pyongyang, Korea during the Japanese colonial period. It was established in 1913[1] and destroyed in 1945.[2]

Heijō Shrine
The shrine (date unknown)
General information
Address	Pyongyang, Korea, Empire of Japan
Coordinates	39.03534°N 125.7552°E / 39.03534; 125.7552
Inaugurated	1913
Demolished	August 16, 1945

Its name derived from the Japanese name for Pyongyang during its occupation of Korea. The shrine's main annual festival was held on October 2. It was formerly a national shrine of the third rank (国幣小社, kokuhei-shōsha) in the Modern system of ranked Shinto Shrines.

The shrine was destroyed on August 16, 1945: just after Japan first announced its surrender in World War II. That day, local Koreans set fire to the shrine and destroyed it. Hundreds of similar cases arose throughout the peninsula in the following week.[2]

In modern times, the site is a park, with a statue of Kim Il Sung built at the site of the shrine's building.