{{Short description|Shinto shrine in Singapore}} {{use dmy dates|date=December 2024}} {{infobox religious building | name = Syonan Jinja<br />Shōnan Shrine<br />昭南神社 | image = Shinto shrine in Shonan (Singapore) - 194210.jpg | caption = The near-completed Syonan Jinja in 1942 | map_type = Singapore | map_alt = | coordinates = {{coord|1|20|53.6|N|103|48|49.7|E|type:landmark|display=inline, title}} | map_relief = | map_size = | map_caption = | religious_affiliation = [[Shinto]] | type = [[Shinto shrine]] | deity = [[Amaterasu]] | founded_by = | established = {{start date|1942|05|07|df=y}} | date_destroyed = {{end date|1945|08|15|df=y}} | location = [[MacRitchie Reservoir]], Singapore | website = | architecture_style = | festival = | leadership = }} {{Nihongo|'''Syonan Jinja'''|昭南神社|Shōnan Jinja|lit. "Shōnan Shrine"}} was a [[Shinto]] shrine at [[MacRitchie Reservoir]], [[Singapore]]. Built by the [[Japanese Imperial Army]] during the [[Japanese occupation of Singapore]] in [[World War II]], the shrine was destroyed directly before British forces re-occupied Singapore.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Heok |first1=Tay Jin |title=Syonan Jinja: Singapore's Hidden Shrine That Is The Grandest After The Meiji Shrine In Tokyo |url=https://thesmartlocal.com/read/syonan-jinja/ |website=TheSmartLocal |access-date=19 April 2022 |date=24 August 2021}}</ref>
Located deep inside the [[Central Catchment Nature Reserve]] (CCNR), the [[National Heritage Board (Singapore)|National Heritage Board]] (NHB) declared the site a historic site in 2002, although no plans have been made public so far to develop or make any significant changes to the site since the war.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Yap |first1=Gracia |title=Fast facts about the Syonan Jinja |url=https://tnp.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/fast-facts-about-syonan-jinja |website=The New Paper |access-date=19 April 2022 |language=en |date=2 November 2020}}</ref>
== History == The Syonan Jinja (Light of the South Shrine) was envisioned to be a shrine that commemorated the many Japanese soldiers and military personnel who fell in the [[Fall of Singapore|Japanese conquest of Singapore]].<ref name="infopedia"/>
The construction of Syonan Jinja was significant. Major Yasuji Tamura, the commander of the Japanese 5th Division's Engineers Regiment and the man in-charge of the design and the construction of the Syonan Jinja, had envisioned for the shrine in Singapore to be best Shinto shrine in the whole of the southern areas of Asia that has come under Japanese occupation. It was also to be the second-greatest shrine of the Shinto faith after the [[Meiji Shrine]] in Tokyo, Japan.<ref name="infopedia"/>
== Destruction == Just before the Japanese officially surrendered on 15 August 1945, they decided to destroy and burn the shrine to the ground in fear of its desecration by the returning British colonial forces.<ref name="infopedia"/>
== Preservation ==
The ruins of Syonan Jinja – now down to a few remaining support structures and broken pieces and chunks – can still be found in the dense tropical forest of the [[Central Catchment Nature Reserve]] (CCNR), in which includes the [[MacRitchie Reservoir]].<ref name="nhb"/>
The remnants of the old shrine were designated as a historical site by the NHB in 2002.<ref name="infopedia">{{cite web |url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_236_2004-12-24.html |title=Syonan Jinja on Infopedia |work=National Library Board |date=2004-12-24 |access-date=2015-08-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151002032352/http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_236_2004-12-24.html |archive-date=2015-10-02 |url-status=live }}</ref> However, the historical site remains inaccessible to the public due to the strong current deep stream and the presence of wild animals.<ref name="nhb">{{cite web|url=http://www.nhb.gov.sg/places/historic-sites/syonan-jinja|title=Syonan Jinja|work=National Heritage Board|date= |access-date=2015-08-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151023021744/http://www.nhb.gov.sg/places/historic-sites/syonan-jinja |archive-date=2015-10-23|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Gallery== <gallery> File:昭南神社-陸海将星の参拝.jpg|Japanese army and navy officers visiting the Shonan Jinja in 1943 File:昭南神社邮票（日治马来）.jpg|Japanese postage stamp depicting Shonan Jinja File:Remains of Divine Bridge leading to Synonan Jinja at MacRitchie Reservoir, Singapore, 1 - 2022-07-02.jpg|Remains of Divine Bridge leading to Syonan Jinja at MacRitchie Reservoir </gallery>
== External links == [https://remembersingapore.org/2017/07/16/macritchie-reservoir-syonan-jinja/ Exploring the Ruins of Syonan Jinja at MacRitchie Reservoir]
{{portalbar|Japan|Singapore}} {{Shinto shrine}} {{Authority control}}
[[Category:Japanese occupation of Singapore]] [[Category:20th-century Shinto shrines]] [[Category:Religious buildings and structures in Singapore]] [[Category:Shinto shrines in the Japanese colonial empire]] [[Category:Religious buildings and structures completed in 1942]] [[Category:1942 establishments in the Japanese colonial empire]] [[Category:1945 disestablishments in the Japanese colonial empire]] [[Category:20th-century architecture in Singapore]] [[Category:Shinmei shrines]] {{Shinmei shrines}}