Heard of the Japanese Shinto shrine built during the Japanese Occupation in Singapore? Heard of it but clueless about where it is? Or haven't even heard about it?
Buried in the dense jungle of the MacRitchie Catchment Area are the ruins of Syonan Jinja, a Japanese Shinto Shrine dating back to World War II. Built to commemorate Japanese soldiers who died fighting in the invasion of Singapore, Syonan Jinja was the location of many Japanese religious and cultural ceremonies. The original structure, built during the Japanese Occupation (1942-1945), was a temple with no walls. Raised from the ground by a stone platform graduated with a few steps, the sloping temple roof rested on pillars that stood at regular intervals round the perimeter of the platform. It is believed that during rituals, worshippers would drink from a huge granite ceremonial fountain located outside the shrine.
A Shinto ceremony took place here every New Year's Day for the few years that the shrine existed. This was marked by the sounding of the temple bell, the arrival of devotees and the presence of a Shinto priest presiding over rituals. After the proceedings were completed here, the worshippers moved on for a second ceremony at Syonan Chureito, a war memorial for the Japanese soldiers, located at Bukit Batok.
Syonan Jinja was destroyed when the Japanese Occupation ended in 1945. Crumbling granite steps that once led to the shrine are visible, as well as the stone fountain. Of the temple building itself, there is a low stone wall that runs one length of the building and several square pits in the ground that probably once supported pillars.
Today, remnants of the shrine are covered by jungle vegetation. As it is no longer accessible, Syonan Jinja is best seen through old photographs and drawings by the Japanese military as well as the POWs who helped build the shrine.
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Date: 13 Aug 2005 (Saturday)
Time: 9 am
Duration: Estimated 9 am - 12 pm
Meet at: MacRitchie Reservoir park entrance double bus-stop
Cost: $0
Please do let me know in advance if you are coming in case there are any last minute changes.
slashed at 2:26 pm .