In this manuscript, I reviewed recent Japanese research on national commemoration of war deads in Yasukuni shrine and state Shintoism in post-World War II Japan, paying special attention to why such commemoration has been disputed in post-war Japan, unlike other modern states where similar commemoration of unknown fallen soliders is regarded as natural. Reflecting the critical stance against Japanse war efforts in the post-World War II academia, Japanese scholars` research on state-Shintoism has strongly maintained a counter-ideology against ultra-nationalism. And also, we should not overlook the fact that previous counter-ideology-based academic research had posed meaningful questions against the conservative swift of Japanese society, like the effort of estabilishing the bill that proposed the state control of Yasukuni shrine. However, the trend of most recent Japanese research on this issue has switched to empirical investigation of why and how commemoration of war deads has been increasingly accepted as a shared responsibility among people in modern Japan. Taking notice of irei [慰靈] the unique belief system regarding death in modern Japanese society, I summarized major issues regarding state Shintoism in Japanese scholars` research on irei. Then I reviewed recent research findings that considered the process that Japanese public has embraced and internalized the com- memoration of war deads as an institute of the modern nation state in relation to civic morality and patriotism [kyodoai]. In my view, the process in which the commemoration of war deads is institutionalized in modern Japan reflects not only the universal process found in other modern nation-states but also unique Japanese experience of rapid construction of the nation state in Japan via importing modern insti-tutions from Western powers and waging a series of wars against neighboring countries. Furthermore, we should also take into account the shock experienced by Japanese public at the time of World War II defeat, which severed the pre-war link between the state and Shinto and brought the fundamental change to pre-war commemoration of war deads. However, the question still remains how the specters of war deads recalled by the immortal community of the Japanese nation are to be incorporated and disappeared in the frame of the nation state. Further investigation is deemed necessary in order to explore the dynamism of the political field, where the specters of war deads bring a crack in emotive community and the nation-state tries to suture it desperately.